


Pride and Shame

by VariableMammal



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Drug Use, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-02 13:51:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10219661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VariableMammal/pseuds/VariableMammal
Summary: A dangerous new recreational drug is spreading like wildfire through Zootopia. On the verge of being overwhelmed, the Zootopia Police Department attempts to find and stem the tide of this new fad drug before it does too much damage to the city.





	1. Pride Before

    "Again, I'd like to thank you all; it's just so lovely that so many people have come out to see me today," a lioness named Miranda Pride said cheerfully from behind a podium. She looked out at a modestly-sized, but highly varied group of animals congregated on a street near the heart of Downtown Zootopia. Some held signs that had such slogans as "PRIDE FOR INTERSPECIES PRIDE" and "LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS". Miranda took in a breath and smiled pleasantly. Her voice was warm as she continued speaking: "Of course, I did feel I would be welcome in Zootopia, but the positive response from all of these mammals... it just makes my heart soar!" The lioness put her paw to her chest gently and her light blue eyes seemed to twinkle.  
  
    "For a few years now, we at Prideswell have wanted to move our operations to Zootopia," Miranda went on. "We feel that it's only natural that a city such as Zootopia, known for its predators and prey living together in harmony, be where we should make our home. If you're here in this crowd and don't know who I am, my name is Miranda Pride. I'm one of Ameowrica's foremost advocates for interspecies relationship rights. Throughout our history, marriage rights have been threatened, and it continues to be somewhat difficult for some pairings to adopt a child. Through patience, demonstrations, and appeals to our government, we seek to change that. We must come together for an understanding of each other, not seek to drive each other away." There was a small pause, and a few mammals clapped for her.  
  
    "Zootopia is known as one of the most tolerant and inclusive cities in the entire _world_ ," Miranda beamed, "but it's not been without its struggles. The incident a year and a half ago with the Night Howler threatened to drive a wedge between predator and prey." She shook her head. "But Zootopia was strong, and persevered. Interspecies marriage rights have progressed, and I am very proud of that. I want to be right here in Zootopia when even more restrictions to interspecies couples are loosened. I want to be here when we rub out those inequalities, one step at a time. I will do everything in my own power, with the good mammals of Prideswell alongside me, to help achieve this goal. Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you all again!"  
  
    There was loud applause and some cheering as Miranda got off the podium and began to walk away. She began to be followed by her security detail, a moose and a wolverine. The lioness adjusted her dull purple jacket and made sure her blouse and skirt were straight, and continued walking.  
  
    "Ms. Pride isn't taking any interviews at this time," the wolverine warned a group of reporters trying to get closer to her, holding his hand out and shaking it.  
  
    "Ms. Pride, Ms. Pride!" a small male voice yelled out, and between a collection of various kinds of legs, a chipmunk burst through the crowd and got very close to the lioness.  
  
    "Watch it, kid," the moose moved his foot to keep the chipmunk from getting closer.  
  
    "Oh, he's just a boy, let the chipmunk through," Miranda smiled, crouching a little. "Hello! What's your name?"  
  
    "I'm Cory," the chipmunk said, "I've been following all of your speeches, and  _wow_ you're such a great speaker! One day I want to be such a great public speaker."  
  
    "How flattering!" Miranda blinked very slowly to indicate her delight, then crouched more and offered her hands for him. Cory immediately climbed into them, and Miranda straightened up, carrying him up. "How old are you, Cory?"  
  
    "Sixteen," Cory said resolutely, "I'll be seventeen soon. I go to school at Squeakendale High."  
  
    "Ah, the bloom of youth," Miranda said wistfully. She nodded her head to her right, at a large, weathered-looking fountain. "You know what that is, don't you Cory?"  
  
    Cory looked at the fountain. "Yeah, that's the Watering Hole."  
  
    "Just so," Miranda nodded, "and have you paid attention in your history classes? Why is it important?"  
  
    "It's the place where preds and prey first had to start coming together to share their water in ancient times," Cory recited, "as we evolved, they say that the need for water is what started getting dialogues going between preds and prey."  
  
    "Exactly!" Miranda carried him closer toward the fountain, sitting down at it. Her security detail followed her, as well as a small group of curious animals that were kept at bay by the two. "That's why I chose to give my speech here. This fountain represents the spirit of harmony between all of us. But would you like to know a little secret I've heard, if you promise not to tell anyone?" Miranda turned her head and offered a bright smile to her onlookers with her eyes closed.  
  
    "Uh, sure?" Cory shrugged.  
  
    Miranda softly bat at the water with her free paw. "I've heard that if you toss a coin in here and make a wish, it might just come true! Do you have a coin on you? Or... a wish?"  
  
    "Uh..." Cory smiled, looking bashful. He produced a small coin from his pocket.  
  
    "Surely there's a reason you'd be attracted to  _my_ speeches," Miranda turned her head to look at him sidelong, batting her eyes charmingly.  
  
    "Yeah, uh... there's a girl," Cory rubbed behind his head with his free hand, "she's a stoat named Carrie, and y'know, it's the whole pred and prey thing, so I'm just kinda nervous to ask her out."  
  
    "Oh..." Miranda put her own free paw on her chest demurely and tilted her head, "my heart goes out to you. The differences we have from each other can be so scary, to say nothing of the fear of _rejection_. How about we try to boost your confidence a little bit, hm?" Miranda made sure the chipmunk was securely in both of her paws and moved him out toward the fountain's water. "Why don't you make your wish, Cory?"  
  
    Cory hesitated, but threw the coin as far as he could into the fountain's waters, where it landed with a tiny bloop. "I wish Carrie Fairfur would go out with me."  
  
    "Cory and Carrie," Miranda said, "it already has a nice ring to it." She moved him away from the water. "Now, did you know that all of the coins thrown in the fountain are collected every evening and donated to the hospitals of Zootopia?" She smiled. "You've just done a tiny good deed! So, whether you believe in Karma coming back to you, or you think Serendipity's favor can be won by shiny things,  _or_ if you just believe in good old charity, I'd say you have something special coming your way!"  
  
    "R-really? It's just a little coin..." Cory felt a little overwhelmed.  
  
    Miranda very gently touched Cory's midsection, making him fold up and chuckle. "You never know when your fairy godmother might come grant your wish, little chipmunk. If you see an opportunity, you should take it, okay? Be brave and bold!" She chuckled and gently let the chipmunk down.  
  
    "Thanks, Ms. Pride!" Cory beamed up at her, "I'll- I'll try!"  
  
    Miranda waved sweetly at him, wiggling each of her fingers, before rising and taking her phone out, typing into it.  
  
    "Are we ready, boys?" she called out to her detail, both of which became more alert and started to follow her. "Let's go explore our new home."


	2. The Bad News

    "Thank you for joining us this evening on ZNN," said the snow leopard newscaster on the TV screen. "I'm Fabienne Growley."  
  
    "And I'm Peter Moosebridge," the moose co-anchor announced. "Tonight we bring you a special report regarding a dangerous new craze that's hit the city of Zootopia."  
  
    Fabienne looked slightly unnerved before she spoke. "Popularity of the street drug randernephrol, or 'Randy' as its come to be commonly known, has surged recently."  
  
    "With the increase of its popularity comes the increase in hospitalizations of mammals misusing the drug," Peter added seriously. "Tonight we have our chief medical correspondent Longinus Tremor to tell us about this drug. Longinus?" The moose turned his head as the camera panned outwards to show an elephant in the studio, standing by another screen.  
  
    "Thank you, Peter," Longinus nodded, then pointed to a graphic on the screen, showing chemical compositions of two drugs. "Randernephol is a street variant of the drug most commonly used to treat inconsistent heat cycles in female mammals. However, the makeup of randernephrol has been changed so it affects all mammals, male or female. It can prematurely induce heat or mating cycles and cause mammals to have a strong desire to mate, as well as drastically lower their inhibitions."  
  
    "Can you tell us some of the dangers of the usage of this drug, Longinus?" Fabienne asked.  
  
    "Of course," Longinus nodded, switching the infographic and pointing at it with his trunk. "Randernephrol is not FDA-approved, so 'safe' dosages for target mammals are not widely known. Overdoses of the drug can be lethal, as it causes an unsafe rise in blood pressure. Depending on what kind of mammal you are, even safe dosages can be hazardous to your health, especially in the case of female mustelids; their heat cycles must be carefully dealt with or else their lives could be endangered."  
  
    "We've been given several reports that randernephrol is being used as a 'date-rape' drug. Is that true, and are there any safety precautions our citizens can take to keep themselves aware of it?" Peter pursued.  
  
    "Unfortunately, it  _has_ been used in this way," Longinus nodded, his trunk drooping. "Though it does not interfere with a mammal's memory, lowered inhibitions can cause mammals to perform some actions they might not otherwise. Adding to this is the danger that the drug does not have a particular taste or even a very strong smell, so it's hard to detect. It most commonly shows up as varying sizes of white tablets, but can also be crushed into a powder to ingest."  
  
    "Are there any other telling side-effects; can people realize they've been given the drug?" Fabienne asked, a small hint of anxiety in her voice.  
  
    "Besides the primary symptoms," Longinus' trunk curled, "one can develop headaches, painful stomach cramps, and have the feeling of being overheated. If you or a friend experience any of these symptoms and aren't sure if you might have taken the drug, please seek medical attention right away."  
  
    "Thank you so much for that information, Longinus," Peter nodded gravely. Longinus nodded and stepped out of the frame.  
  
    "The ZPD is asking if anyone has any information on mammals that might be distributing 'Randy', to please notify the police," Fabienne said, stacking her papers on the desk.  
  
    "We will have more after the break, including how the ZPD is attempting to handle the outbreak of randernephrol use, so stay tuned," Peter added. ZNN's jingle began to play as the camera panned and swept outward.  
  


* * *

  
    Chief Bogo let out a very long sigh as he stood there in the lobby, his eyes on the television. The buffalo's arms folded and he grunted. He brought one hand up to his head and rubbed the bridge of his muzzle.  
  
    "Why is it we can't seem to go half a year without having some new crisis in this city?" Chief Bogo muttered to himself. As Judy Hopps walked by, he nodded to the gray bunny. "I blame you."  
  
    "Pardon?" Judy turned her head.  
  
    "Bunnies are _supposed_ to be lucky," Bogo scoffed, "and yet all of these city-wide crises have occurred  _after_ you joined the ZPD. I'm beginning to think since you aren't a typical bunny, you've brought us misfortune instead."  
  
    "Well," Judy's brow furrowed. "With any 'luck', I'll get to the bottom of this drug problem, too!"  
  
    "A fine attitude," Bogo muttered. "Get to it, then." Judy saluted and headed off to find her partner.  
  
    Bogo heard shuffling behind him, and half-turned to see a grim-looking middle-aged moose approaching. The moose reached into his tan trench coat pocket, retrieved a pack of gum, took out a stick, popped it into his mouth, and started to chew in frustration.  
  
    "Commissioner Freemammal," Bogo's eyes slightly widened.  
  
    "It's a rotten time to have the name 'Randall'," the moose muttered between chews, his hands in his pockets. His voice was a bit hoarse and gravelly, having the sound of fatigue. He faced the TV, but looked at Bogo out of the corner of his eyes. "Where are we on this 'Randy' business?"  
  
    "It's still our top priority," Chief Bogo said apologetically, "we've made over two dozen arrests of mammals acting indecently, but only two possible distributors."  
  
    "Shake those two down?" Freemammal turned his head to look more directly at Bogo.  
  
    "We've..." Bogo snorted in annoyance, "made no real progress. They've been tight-lipped."  
  
    "Okay, Chief," Freemammal's brow fell and he tossed a second stick of gum into his mouth. One of Bogo's nostrils twitched as it caught up the minty scent. "We need this problem solved yesterday."  
  
    "I understand, Commissioner, but it's not that-" Bogo held a finger up.  
  
    "Yes yes, well I'm not interested in your excuses," Freemammal started to look more and more irritated. "I can no longer pretend to ignore how our city is rapidly becoming a hive of sin. When I was young, interspecies couples were afraid to hold  _hands_ in public, and now they're doing things in our streets that are better reserved for pornographic videos. We're becoming a laughingstock of a city, Bogo. Zootopia: where anyone can  _do_ anyone."  
  
    "I understand, sir," Bogo sighed. "But I've already expanded everyone's workload and we have investigators looking into every thread they can find. We're getting a bit desperate."  
  
    Freemammal closed his eyes and chewed thoughtfully. His brow twitched, and he added yet a third stick of gum to his mouth and chewed even faster. "My daughter's pregnant."  
  
    "What...?" Chief Bogo's eyes widened and his brow raised.  
  
    "Mm," Freemammal glared up at the buffalo. "She tried the drug with her boyfriend. Said it made her feel more desirable to him. ...Didn't know she had self-confidence problems. Didn't know she didn't feel 'pretty'. Now she's pregnant. My daughter."  
  
    "I..." Bogo wasn't sure what to say.  
  
    "I'm afraid I've lost my objectivity on this situation, Bogo," Freemammal turned his head and spat the wad of gum into a trash can. "But the scenario is playing out this way or worse for more and more families across Zootopia. It can't continue."  
  
    "Of course not, Commissioner," Chief Bogo winced. "We will redouble our efforts."  
  
    The moose nodded, adjusting his coat. "See that you do. We'll be in touch, Chief." Freemammal adjusted his coat again and left the ZPD's lobby, producing another stick of gum as he walked out of sight.


	3. Unofficial Business

    "Judy, Nicky... come in, come in," Mr. Big smiled. The arctic shrew beckoned warmly with both hands as the two stepped into his chilly, dimly-lit office. Mr. Big was accompanied by his usual entourage of large polar bears; the largest standing just behind him with his hands folded. He relaxed in his ornate chair that sat on his desk.  
  
    "Hello, Mr. Big," Judy smiled apologetically, stepping in with Nick. The two were wearing civilian clothes. "I know it's rare that we get a chance to talk to you nowadays..."  
  
    "Now now," Mr. Big gave Judy his customary kisses and had Nick kiss his ring. He smiled broadly. "I know we are of two worlds, so not often is it prudent to visit me. However, we are still one family. I know that if you have come here you must have a great need."  
  
    "That- yes, that is indeed true," Nick nodded nervously, his fox tail unconsciously curling around his own ankles. He rubbed at his arm with his other hand, partly from the cold, and partly from apprehension.  
  
    "We... uh, we  _kind_ of need to know if you've distributed randernephrol... you or any of your people," Judy's bunny ears folded back as she added a slightly nervous laugh to her question.  
  
    "Huh," Mr. Big's friendly expression vanished. "You come here and ask that of me so directly...?" Mr. Big shook his head. "No. I do not manufacture nor distribute that drug."  
  
    "Really?" Judy winced. "Because we're  _still_ looking for any thread of a lead an-"  
  
    "Ah ah..." Mr. Big waved his hand dismissively. "You may find that I fabricate the truth through omission and misdirection, but I would  _never_ directly lie to a family member." He looked pointedly at Nick, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that right, Nicky?"  
  
    "...Ah, yes sir, that is- that's indeed one of your most important rules," Nick played with his hands. "One that... I have- we'll I've _occasionally_ broken."  
  
    "Heh..." Mr. Big chuckled. Then he folded his fingers together. "No. I did not, have not, and will not distribute 'Randy'." Mr. Big seemed to consider something. "But, speaking of randernephrol, I can't have you two coming all the way here and leaving empty-handed. No... I think it's about time you did a favor for _me_."  
  
    "Wh-what?" Judy narrowed her eyes, and a pinched, tiny laugh followed. "Y-you're kidding, right? Nick and I are policemammals, and... um..."  
  
    "Koslov," Mr. Big snapped his right hand and pointed at the desk. Koslov, the largest polar bear in the room, nodded graciously and shuffled around in the desk, producing a manila folder.  
  
    "One of my girls got herself in a little bit of trouble," Mr. Big shook his head.  
  
    "Your... 'girls'...?" Judy curiously looked at the manila folder, that had Koslov's heavy paw on it at the moment.  
  
    "My arctic foxes," Mr. Big went on. "Professional masseuses."  
  
    Judy internalized this and tilted her head up to Nick questioningly.  
  
    "Spies, essentially," Nick shrugged. "The girls are meant to lull their targets into security and get them to talk about sensitive information."  
  
    "Loose lips sink ships," Mr. Big said evenly. Then he shook his finger at the two. "But nobody, an' I mean _nobody_ , is supposed to touch my girls. And my girls aren't supposed to do anythin' sketchy, neither. So, it's with some degree of trust that I show you these photos." Mr. Big nodded to the polar bear, and he opened the file and laid some photos out on the desk one by one.  
  
    "Oh Deer Lord!" Nick quickly put his paws over his eyes and filtered them through his fingers.  
  
    Judy looked at the photographs seriously; her brow furrowed. They were of an arctic fox and a jackal taken in some very compromising and provocative positions.  
  
    "Jeez, I kinda always wondered what they looked like in the buff when I was living here, but... that's a bit much," Nick cringed. Judy shot him a dirty look then turned to Mr. Big.  
  
    "Why are you showing us these?" Judy narrowed her eyes.  
  
    "Somethings wrong," Mr. Big's bushy eyebrows spoke anger in their curve. "That's... let's call her Cherry White, it's her 'family name'. She knows she's not supposed to do anything with the clients. She's... I had to listen to her tearful apology about this matter and it went on and on..." Mr. Big rotated his wrist, "she said she didn't know what came over her, and she just really craved to mate with him. But afterwards, she regretted it."  
  
    "She was drugged," Judy nodded her head.  
  
    "I think so..." Mr. Big frowned. "We took her to the 'family doctor' immediately after, and they said her hormones were goin' out of whack. Said she'll have to be on the Chill Pill once every  _day_ instead of every month. Until it goes back to normal, anyway, if it does."  
  
    "That's horrible," Judy furrowed her brow. "Isn't there a more permanent solution to randernephrol overdose?"  
  
    "My doctor... he can't exactly confer with other doctors about this," Mr. Big swallowed. "So... I don't know. He doesn't want anything getting back to me. But don't worry about Cherry. I can provide her with the medicine she needs. I just want to know if this is, indeed, randernephrol we're looking at here."  
  
    "How are we supposed to find that out?" Judy cocked her head.  
  
    Nick willed himself to look at the photos objectively. "Hmm... her pupils are dilated quite a bit and you can see quite a few pink vein marks in her sclera. I think that's supposed to be two of the symptoms of randernephrol use."  
  
    "It's gotta be a bit more conclusive than that," Mr. Big said, nodding to Koslov again. Koslov carefully picked out a small SD card from a drawer and held it between his fingers, offering it to Mr. Big, who then handed it to Judy. "That contains Cherry White's blood toxicology report. As I said, my family doctor can't get his hands on randernephrol information freely, so we have to have someone else look into it."  
  
    "We- we can't just take someone's medical records and have them examined!" Judy protested. Mr. Big frowned. "I mean... that's a breach of doctor-patient... uh... how are we supposed to do that?"  
  
    "Give it to me," Nick beckoned. Bewildered, Judy handed over the SD card to Nick, who put it in his shirt pocket. "I think I can get this to the ZPD for analysis anonymously."  
  
    "What!?" Judy's eyes widened and she threw her arms out. "How!? And how are we going to make them look it over?"  
  
    "I will sweeten the pot," Mr. Big said, stroking his chin. "Tell me if the blood report shows randernephrol, and I will tell you everything I can dig up on that jackal. What parties he's been to, what events he's been at."  
  
    Nick shrugged. "The ZPD's desperate for information, Judy. We might be able to slip this one in if they were presented with an option like that."  
  
    "But how?" Judy pursued, becoming irritated. "We can't let the ZPD know we still correspond with freaking  _Mr. Big_ of all things!" She turned to him. "No offense, sir."  
  
    "None taken, my child," Mr. Big smirked.  
  
    "Let me take care of that, Carrots," Nick said. He started to shuffle his shoulders and hands in a strange fashion. "I've got the connections, baby. I've got the hook-up."  
  
    "Okay," Judy turned her head and held a hand up. "Stop- stop doing that, whatever you're doing." She sighed slowly in frustration and worry. "This is risky..." the bunny chewed on one of her fingers.  
  
    "Do you trust me, Judy?" Nick asked abruptly.  
  
    "Of course," Judy turned her head and nodded at him.  
  
    "I'll get this report to the ZPD without it coming back to you, me,  _or_ Mr. Big," Nick grinned. "Don't worry, I know just the mammal who can help us. Besides, we held Weaselton's feet to the fire- er, _ice_... what's wrong with a little behind-the-scenes action here?"  
  
    "I guess you forgot that technically  _neither_ of us were police then," Judy's eyelids fell in irritation. She closed her eyes and shook her head rapidly with her arms up. "Okay, no, yes, we'll do it! We'll do it."  
  
    "Splendid," Mr. Big smiled widely.  
  
    "Oh and-..." Judy winced. "You're not going to  _kill_ the jackal, are you?"  
  
    "Of course not," Mr. Big's smile turned devious, "not while he's still of use to us, anyway. He will be punished, though..."  
  
    "I am thinking he will heff to seek medical attention for erection lasting longer than four hours," Koslov suddenly spoke in a grim, accented voice.  
  
    "Heh heh heh..." Mr. Big's grin seemed to curve devilishly. "There's an idea..."  
  
    "Heheheheh...!" Judy laughed nervously. "Th-that's just a joke, right?"  
  
    "Oh, I told you, my child," Mr. Big rubbed his fingers together. "We don't lie to members of the family."


	4. Puzzle Pieces

    "Skippel."  
  
    "Aaagh!" the arctic hare shot bolt upright in her chair, flailing her arms before bringing them in close to her body and looking for the sound of the voice. Her nose twitched rapidly as she saw a stunned Chief Bogo off to the side of her workstation.  
  
    "Easy, Karen, easy!" Chief Bogo held a hand, motioning her to calm down. "All I said was your name!"  
  
    "Yes, sir, sorry sir, j-just a little tightly-wound, sir," Karen shook her head and swept a hand through her ears to get them to lay back.  
  
    "Maybe we need to switch you to decaf," Bogo murmured.  
  
    "No no, I need the focus," Karen grimaced as she leaned in to her workstation. "I'm still plugging in data points of every arrest we've made and cross-checking them against known or suspected distributors."  
  
    "Anything?" Bogo didn't sound optimistic.  
  
    "...I'm sorry, but no," Karen shook her head. "If even the slightest pattern emerges, I will come to you right away."  
  
    "All right, keep with it, Skippel," Bogo turned to leave, but heard a sound coming from her workstation and his brow piqued as he heard Karen growl in frustration. "...Technical Officer Skippel?"  
  
    "Rghh...!" Karen slammed her paws on her desk and stabbed her paw at her monitor in frustration. "This persistent hacker has been messaging me for the past several months! I can't seem to fully block them; they always find some sort of way in."  
  
    "Troubling," Bogo frowned. "What do you think they're after?"  
  
    "So far, only information on  _sheep_ criminals," Karen huffed, "I hope it's not someone looking into Bellwether's case..." Karen moved to remove the message, but she read it before doing so. "What? ...It says 'Let's play a game called "Where's Randy?"'."  
  
    "...Pardon?" Bogo quickly leaned his head into Karen's workstation, making her flinch. "Apologies." Bogo backed off a little bit.  
  
    "I've never opened a dialogue with them before," Karen frowned.  
  
    "They claim to know something about randernephrol?" Bogo folded his arms.  
  
    "'What are you talking about?'," Karen said aloud as she responded to them. She blinked as a file appeared on the messenger client.  
  
    "A file?" Bogo grumbled. "Obviously a virus."  
  
    "Yeah," Karen nodded, scanning it. "...Huh. It doesn't fit any known virus signatures, and heuristic analysis indicates that there's no malicious code in the file." Karen grimaced and looked up at Chief Bogo. "What do I do, Chief?"  
  
    "Open it," Bogo said firmly. "We can always replace your workstation."  
  
    Karen hesitated, cringing at the idea, but she opened the file. "It's a... a blood toxicology report? What's this supposed to mean? Female, arctic fox..." Karen wrinkled her muzzle. "Oh, there's another message from the hacker. 'Find Randy, and there will be more information to follow'."  
  
    "Send that file down to the Medical Examiner's office," Bogo directed.  
  
    "Really?" Karen looked at him in concern. "An anonymous file containing a medical report for an anonymous arctic fox?"  
  
    "Just do it," Bogo grumbled. "I'll talk to the ME."  
  


* * *

  
    "This is irregular, Chief Bogo, this is  _highly_ irregular," Dr. Carl Pedshark, the ZPD's ferret medical examiner, said, while walking nervously across the room. He looked at the file on his computer screen and fussily rubbed his head fur with his paws. "The mere fact that this file has been  _distributed_ is breaching all sorts of protocols, and you want me to examine it for randernephrol so you can- you can what...? Send it to an anonymous source for _tips_?"  
  
    "I'm  _aware_ of the protocols in question, Dr. Pedshark," Chief Bogo rubbed at his forehead. "I'm also aware that the Commissioner has been riding me to get to the bottom of this randernephrol crisis. We're essentially still on square one and I'm getting desperate for a lead."  
  
    "Who  _knows_ who we'd be giving the information to!?" Dr. Pedshark held his paws out wide. "For all we know it could be from an drug lord themselves, seeing if they can copy the chemical structure!"  
  
    "Just... just tell me if the blood report shows randernephrol or not, Dr. Pedshark," Bogo groaned. "I know of the risks and I will take full responsibility for the consequences of this. Can you and Hurriet just finish your analysis for me, quickly?" Bogo looked to Hurriet, their most accomplished lab tech, who was also a sloth. She was still in the process of waving hello to Chief Bogo, though she was nearly finished.  
  
    Dr. Pedshark looked at Hurriet briefly and sighed. "We can be _thorough_..."  
  


* * *

  
    "Go _home_ , Skippel," Chief Bogo grumbled as he walked by Karen's workstation well into the night.  
  
    "Mm, sir, I'm getting so many data points," Karen shook her head and continued working, her tongue out of the side of her mouth, lost in thought. "This is like fitting together a puzzle; it's what I live for!"  
  
    "This information could be inaccurate," Bogo said grimly. "Or, it could perhaps be provided by a rival drug lord that doesn't want the competition from this new fad drug."  
  
    "Either way, I'm starting to see a pattern! I think..." Karen bit at her lip and kept plotting points on a map of Zootopia on her computer.  
  
    Bogo muttered to himself wordlessly and moved his head side to side, then left briefly, returning with a small coffee. He pushed it towards Karen.  
  
    "Oh, thank you sir," Karen barely looked at the coffee before focusing her light blue eyes on the screen. She sipped from her drink. "Okay, I've got a working theory."  
  
    "What are we looking at?" Chief Bogo folded his arms.  
  
    "I've been plotting a bunch of points where incidents of randernephrol usage have occurred," Karen pointed at her screen. "These are where we've made arrests. And _these_... are social events that have been held less than twenty-four hours from the arrests. After I got one or two from our anonymous informant, I started researching more and more myself, and all the slots are coming up sevens, Chief!"      
  
    "So? ...So what does that mean, do you think?" Bogo squinted his eyes. "Randernephrol is being distributed at parties. That sounds about par for the course for a date-rape drug."  
  
    "Oh, but it's not just that it's being distributed at _parties_!" Karen held up a finger, a wild look to her eyes. "But what  _kind_ of parties, and hosted by _whom_." Karen jabbed near her screen repeatedly with a finger and brought up the information. "Ninety percent of the functions held were upper-class parties, charity functions... all of them held by the Prideswell Foundation."  
  
    "Prideswell?" Bogo scratched his chin. "Isn't that the organization that's for interspecies relationship rights?"  
  
    "Right," Karen nodded. "Maybe they're behind it?"  
  
    "Hold on now," Bogo moved his tongue within his mouth, thinking. "Prideswell is a  _charity_ organization, correct? What do we know about it?"  
  
    "I've been looking into them, Chief," Karen pulled up a few tabs of information on her browser. "Prideswell is a charity organization founded by Miranda Pride. She comes from a rich family, and sustains the company through donations, charity drives, and charity parties. They also apparently make a popular array of baked goods?"  
  
    "Who do they think they are, the Junior Ranger Scouts?" Bogo scoffed.  
  
    "Just about a year ago, Prideswell moved their operations from Broadhorn to Zootopia," Karen read.  
  
    "Oh!" Chief Bogo moved in to look at the screen. "Did Broadhorn have a problem with randernephrol before Prideswell left?"  
  
    "No such luck," Karen shook her head. "The randernephrol phenomenon started here."  
  
    "Blast!" Bogo pushed away from Karen's desk. "How about... okay, would there be enough time to invent and distribute a drug in the time frame from when Prideswell got here?"  
  
    "I... don't know," Karen shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry. I'm guessing since randernephrol is a  _derivative_ drug, it would take less resources than if they had to develop one from scratch? They could have been underway with their research when they were in Broadhorn, if you wanted me to speculate..."  
  
    "Resources, resources..." Bogo tapped a finger on his snout. "Could Prideswell have moved here for _resources_?"  
  
    "It's possible..." Karen thought about this. "Zootopia is the most diverse place on the continent, so... we do import a lot of different things."  
  
    "Hmmm..." Bogo thought deeply, then looked like he had an epiphany. "I think I'm getting the ghost of an idea." Bogo chuckled. "All right. Now, go home, Skippel."  
  
    "What? But I've still got like a dozen more data points to chart out-" Karen started with her paws aimed at her computer, looking like a child who was being excused from the table before her dessert.  
  
    "I said _go home_ , Skippel," Bogo smirked. "The work will be there in the morning, and tomorrow is another day."  
  
    "All right, sir..." Karen's low, scratchy voice grumbled as she got up from her station after locking the computer.  
  
    "Oh, and if I gave out praise freely..." Bogo called after her as she walked away, "you'd get some for your work this evening. But since I don't... just... have a good night."  
  
    "Thank you sir," Karen gave a faint smile and saluted.


	5. Partnership

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read the chapter "Pride" from my "Different Tails" collection, you can safely skip this chapter unless you want to have the continuous experience of the story. There are only very minor stylistic and punctuation changes compared to that chapter. Or, you can reread it to make sure I haven't left any plot holes ;)

    "And so I told her- I  _told_ her," a red fox said with a huge grin, a circle of enthralled mammals around him and a gray bunny hanging on his arm, "I said... 'you schmooze, you lose!'"  
  
    A bloom of laughter filled the ballroom.  
  
    "Aw wow, that's brutal," a raccoon a tear from his eye.  
  
    "No no, it's _savage_ , isn't that right Mr. Savage?" a giraffe bumped the fox with her hip.  
  
    "Ah! I see what you did there!" Savage clicked his tongue and aimed a finger-gun at the giraffe. There was a bit more laughter as a jovial mood spread like warm butter over the group of animals.  
  
    The gray bunny pat Savage's arm. "Well, if it's bad puns you want, my husband could keep you here all night!"  
  
    "I'm half-inclined to take you up on that!" a deer said merrily.  
  
    The circle parted a bit to let the very opulently dressed Miranda Pride though. Her ears sparkled with several earrings, her neck was adorned with a pearl necklace, and her royal purple dress had a sharp, designer cut.  
  
    "Well, well, it looks like these two little social butterflies are the life of the party!" the lioness' gentle, soothing voice said. "You must forgive me though as I don't believe we've met?"  
  
    "Ah, well, of course we know who  _you_ are," Mr. Savage smiled at the lioness, offering his paw.  
  
    "Miranda Pride," the lioness greeted, allowing Mr. Savage to kiss the back of her own paw. "And you two?"  
  
    "We're the Savages," Mr. Savage said, "my name is Skyler."  
  
    "And I'm Jacqueline," Mrs. Savage smiled earnestly up at the lioness. "Such a pleasure to meet you. We're big fans of your efforts towards interspecies relationship rights."  
  
    "How delightful; bunny and fox mates?" Miranda smiled broadly. "May I ask what you two do?"  
  
    "Oh, how crass of me, would you like our card?" Skyler pulled a card out of his coat pocket. The lioness nodded politely and took it.  
  
    Jacqueline started to explain: "My husband and I are a psychologist/psychiatrist team. I'm the psychologist, and he's the psychiatrist." Jacqueline's bright brown eyes twinkled from behind her glasses as she adjusted them.  
  
    "Although, with a voice like mine, it'd almost make you wonder why I wasn't the one soothing the ears of those troubled souls, huh?" Skyler winked one of his yellow eyes.  
  
    "I'm hard-pressed to disagree," Miranda smirked. "How wonderful of you two to join me. If I may, and if it doesn't violate anything confidential, how do you 'treat' a mammal that has an issue with loving another species?"  
  
    "We try to make them see that it's okay," Jacqueline nodded with an intense look, "that there's nothing to be ashamed of. Love is an emotion of the enlightened, and all of mammalkind is thus enlightened. We're all free to love who we will, if we can only accept that love within ourselves."  
  
    There was an impressed "oh!" that passed over the crowd, and a few mammals even clapped briefly.  
  
    "Mm, exquisite," Miranda smiled with her eyes half-closed. "I hope you will enjoy this little party we at the Prideswell Foundation have put together, and I will keep this card, thank you." She gave a small half-bow of respect, which Skyler and Jacqueline returned. The lioness left the bunny and fox to themselves.  
  
    Skyler yawned. "Well! It's just about past my bedtime, think we should get up to the hotel room, honeybun?"  
  
    Jacqueline gestured to the dance floor. "Without at least once dance? C'mon, my handsome fox."  
  


* * *

  
    The hotel room door softly shut behind the bunny and the fox.  
  
    "Aaand, there's only one bed," Jacqueline said disdainfully, her eyebrows half-lidding.  
  
    "Well of course," Skyler smirked. "This is a couple's suite. Now hush."  The fox prowled around the room and started sniffing. "We can't be too careful."  
  
    "You sure you'd be able to smell anything off?" Jacqueline cocked her head.  
  
    "Plastic does smell, you know," Skyler systematically moved through the room, to the corners, under the bed, and even in the bathroom. "Seems like it's all clear."  
  
    "Great, I can't stand these contacts," Jacqueline made her way to the bathroom and took off her glasses, then removed brown contacts from her eyes, revealing bright purple eyes underneath. "I know I'm supposed to look inconspicuous, but jeez. What do you even say to someone with brown eyes?" Skyler stood next to the bunny and set about starting to remove his own contacts.  
  
    "Your eyes are like two sips of mocha coffee, joined by the warm breeze of daybreak," Skyler replied in a soothing voice, blinking his green eyes after removing his yellow contacts.  
  
    "You do play the part of hopeless romantic perfectly, 'Skyler'," Judy had a slightly impressed smile and a nod for the fox's response. "You even look pretty good with yellow eyes."  
  
    "Why thank you, 'Jacqueline'," Nick grinned, loosening his burgundy tie. "Though I have to say my favorite part of this has been seeing you in that red sequined number." His eyes darted to Judy's dress.  
  
    "Ugh, really?" Judy perked up an eyebrow. "I really don't think I wear 'opulent' well."  
  
    "I humbly disagree," Nick wiggled his eyebrows. Judy rolled her eyes.  
  
    "Do you think we should check in with the ZPD?" Judy moved her tongue within her mouth as she thought. "I think your schmoozing with Ms. Pride was far from a loss."  
  
    "I feel like we might have gotten her on the line," Nick nodded seriously, "but we're only supposed to call the guys if we have something for sure. Maybe we should keep our contacts on the nightstand in case she tries to reach out to us in the middle of the night."  
  
    "I can't believe someone like Pride might be behind the sudden increase in the distribution of randernephrol," Judy frowned. "I mean, what sense does that make? She seems to fight for a noble cause. Unlike Bellwether, she doesn't seem to want to make a power grab. Do you get a read from her?"  
  
    "Well, her life story isn't as blatant as the one I read from you, Carrots," Nick smirked, to a gentle shove from Judy. "But everyone has their reasons. 'Randy' decreases the inhibitions and increases the drive to mate of those that ingest it. So... if you wanted me to guess, I'd say Pride was very frustrated at one point, perhaps infatuated with a crush of another species that she couldn't attain."  
  
    "So you think she feels like it's 'justice' that she's helping develop and distribute that dangerous drug?" Judy sneered. "The dosages for it seem to be all over the place... and it's put a lot of people in the hospital."  
  
    "As it is with any unregulated drug," Nick frowned. He shook his head. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure that we might have her. We just need to supply her with the information for our 'pharmaceutical' contacts if asked, and we'll be onto the next phase of the operation."  
  
    "But until then," Judy gestured toward the bed, "there's the question of who gets the bed."  
  
    "Oh, have I done something to offend you, Jacqueline?" Nick placed his hand delicately on his chest. "Are you telling me that loving mates such as ourselves don't sleep in the same bed?"  
  
    "C'mon dummy, we checked for bugs and cameras," Judy smirked. "I'm not your wife, I'm your partner."  
  
    "Eh, to-may-to to-mah-to," Nick shrugged. "You know we were chosen for this operation because we basically act like we're married anyway."  
  
    "But we're _not_ ," Judy insisted, "we're _partners_."  
  
    "I volunteer to take the bed," Nick said blithely, "I'm older and larger than you." He nodded to the couch. "Couch's plenty big. Maybe it folds out into a bed."  
  
    Judy scoffed. "Wow, that's big of you."  
  
    "Eh, I'm only four foot nothin'," Nick smirked. Judy rooted around in her drawer and took out her pajamas; they were purple things with darker edges and carrots all over them. Nick's eyes widened. "Uh, is  _that_ what you're gonna wear to bed? Are you supposed to be my wife or my twelve-year-old daughter?"  
  
    "Oh shut up," Judy grumbled, "they're comfy." She took her clothes to the bathroom and shut the door. She continued talking to him through the door while she changed. "So, what did you think? Hows 'Jackie'?"  
  
    "She could use a little work, but I'd date her," Nick grinned, starting to remove his own clothes.  
  
    "Oh come on, she's totally believable," Judy protested. "I'll have you know that if the whole 'police officer' thing didn't work out I was going to be an actress. Heck, I made some people cry with my role as the princess of Inevitable in high school."  
  
    "And I've been 'acting' for my daily bread almost as long as you've been _alive_ , Fluff," Nick said airily. "You're going to need a bit more practice to keep up with me."  
  
    "You're acting like 'Skyler' isn't basically just  _you_ anyway," Judy threw back mockingly. "Bad jokes and all."  
  
    "Hey, they say write what you know," Nick grinned.  
  
    "So, what's our plan if-" Judy stepped out of the bathroom and her eyes bulged as she saw Nick, "sweet mother of marmot milk! Nick...!"  
  
    "Quiet down!" Nick whispered harshly. "These walls might not be that thick."  
  
    "Okay then, _Skyler_ ," Judy hissed. "Where are your clothes!?"  
  
    With innocent, large eyes, Nick gestured down to his black, heart-print boxers.  
  
    "Where's your _night clothes_?" Judy continued in a harsh whisper.  
  
    "Carrots, I sleep in the nude, so consider me even wearing boxers a courtesy," Nick half-closed his eyes and added in a sleazy grin.  
  
    "Oh, for peanut butter's sake," Judy placed a hand to her forehead and shook her head as she walked by him.  
  
    "Boy, it's a good thing my ego is so huge, or else I'd be a little insulted," Nick raised his eyebrows as Judy passed him by. "A lot of mammals would pay to see a chest like this."  
  
    "Maybe you should be in another line of work then, hotshot," Judy smirked over her shoulder. Judy grabbed a pillow from the bed and started to fluff it, heading for the couch.  
  
    "Hey Judy, I was just kidding earlier," Nick's voice lost its playfulness, "you can take the bed if you want."  
  
    "Oh no, that's fine!" Judy said in an airy, teasing tone. "By all means, rest those old bones of yours. This bunny will be more spry than you in the morning anyway."  
  
    "C'mon, I insist," Nick gestured at the bed.  
  
    "Fight you for it?" Judy put up her fists and shifted her weight from foot to foot. Nick tried not to laugh at how adorable she looked in a battle stance in her cutesy pajamas joined with her eager expression.  
  
    "I'll pass on that," Nick held up a hand in caution. "One, I know I'd lose, and two, I'd like to be able to move in the morning. How about roshambo?"  
  
    "Sure!" Judy's brow lowered, holding up a fist. "Okay, rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Both of them had scissors. "Uh... rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Both rock. "...Rock paper scissors shoot!" Both rock again. And so on it went through scissors, paper, paper, scissors, and finally rock.  
  
    "Okay, this is getting spooky," Nick chuckled, "could you get off my wavelength?"  
  
    Judy sighed. "I'll take the couch."  
  
    Nick moved toward the bed, then looked over at Judy. "You know... uh... we could always share the bed."  
  
    "Pff," Judy responded tersely, looking around for some spare sheets for the couch.  
  
    Nick frowned a little, then smirked before Judy saw. "Y'know, get that practice in of acting like a married couple."  
  
    "I thought you said we do that anyway," Judy said offhandedly, looking through some cupboards.  
  
    Nick pat at his chest with both hands. "C'mon Fluff. Tell me you haven't wanted to cuddle with something like  _this_ before."  
  
    "Hmm," Judy turned her head to consider him with a widening grin. "Like a big, skinny teddy bear."  
  
    "I take offense to that," Nick said, twirling around and swishing his tail. "Bears don't have a tail like I do."  
  
    "Few mammals do," Judy's expression was very nearly a leer. "Okay, hotshot. I'm willing to give 'share' a try."  
  
    "That's the spirit," Nick grinned, sliding into bed, then 'oof'ing as Judy launched right onto him. "Jeez, your enthusiasm for everything knows no bounds."  
  
    "False, I just 'bounded' into bed," Judy smiled proudly.  
  
    "And you said  _my_ jokes were bad," Nick grumbled, bringing his arms around Judy gently.  
  
    "Oh...?" Judy felt her ears flush at the contact as Nick nestled the bunny closer to him. Judy blinked twice, suddenly quite aware of how he smelled. It wasn't unpleasant. She gave a resigned smile as she nuzzled his chest with her cheek. "Heh, is your pulse always like that?"  
  
    "Only when I'm nice and calm," Nick returned softly.  
  
    "Really?" Judy blinked. She quietly counted in her head. "That must be about 120 beats per minute... same as a rabbits...?"  
  
    "Guess we have more in common than we thought, fluff," Nick shrugged his shoulders, petting Judy's ears back, taking in their slight warmth.  
  
    "Wh-what's with all this pawsy stuff?" Judy grinned, though her own paws were gently moving across Nick's fluffy expanse of a chest.  
  
    "Just playing the role, sweetheart," Nick kissed the top of Judy's head chastely.  
  
    Judy closed her eyes. "Well, don't get used to it, buster." If she was honest with herself, she felt very, very comfortable, despite Nick's abruptly overt affectionate teasing. Or perhaps because of it?  
  
    "Aw, my wife is so mean to me," Nick said in a low semi-teasing grumble. Judy felt a tiny surge of excitement at the tone, especially because he kept petting her ears.  
  
    "Oh hush...!" Judy meant to sound irritated, but it came out as a titter.  
  
    Nick yawned, and Judy opened her eyes and looked up just to see his jaws opening with the tired-looking fox smacking his lips right after. His petting ceased, but he held Judy a little firmer for a moment, before relaxing. She felt his tail sweep across her. Her heart rate bumped up for a moment before the feelings caused her to relax as well.  
  
    "You know, one of the first things you called me was a stuffed animal," Judy grumbled quietly, as she was beginning to feel like one.  
  
    "Shh..." Nick whispered. "Stuffed animals usually don't talk."  
  
    "Goodnight, dummy," Judy whispered back.  
  
    Nick's breath changed before long, telling Judy that he was asleep. Judy was having a harder time sleeping. She wondered about her commitment to the "role". Was Nick right? Should she perhaps have brought a more "mature" set of nightwear? She had thought initially that the fox might enjoy that a bit too much. But there she was, in pajamas she'd worn since her late teens, cuddled by a fox in his underwear.  
  
    He was so soft and relaxing... so why couldn't she sleep?  
  
    Judy's thoughts threatened to spiral out of control, but the fluffy cocoon of warmth Nick had her captured in slowly had its intended effect on its victim and Judy dropped into a peaceful slumber.


	6. Taking the Bait

    "Mmm... morning Carrots..." Nick groaned, kissing at the form in his arms without thinking. After a small pause, his eyes shot open and he looked at the form in his arms, deflating slowly. It was just a pillow, and Judy was nowhere to be seen in their hotel room. Nick sat up in bed and stretched luxuriantly, blinking away his morning fatigue. "Nine A.M., ugh... I overslept. Well, if any  _normal_ mammal can call that 'oversleeping'..."  
  
    As Nick came out of the bathroom for his morning visit, he noticed Judy setting down a tray with two cups of coffee and assorted pastries on the desk. She was wearing a handsome dark-gray pantsuit that gave her a look of professionalism, and she already had her brown contacts in. Recollecting on the matter, though, Nick found he had never seen Judy in an outfit that he  _didn't_ think she could pull off.  
  
    "Morning, sleepyhead," Judy chided. "Tsk tsk tsk... still in your underwear and green eyes. Guess the officer of the month award is going to have to go to me instead of you."  
  
    "You should have woken me up," Nick rotated his shoulders, stretching his back muscles. "I was out like a light."  
  
    "Well, you did look pretty comfortable," Judy gave a diagonal nod. "Anyway, while you were sleeping, I was doing work."  
  
    "Yeah?" Nick blinked, his nose sniffing at the air as he followed it toward the tray Judy brought. "Smells more like you were getting breakfast."  
  
    "Ran into Pride on the way back," Judy smirked. "She wants to meet us at 2 P.M. Says she has a favor she wants to ask us."  
  
    "Mh, score," Nick grinned. "We'll be tossing this to Fangie and Wolfie soon enough."  
  
    "Mhm!" Judy chirped. "Want your coffee like usual; cream and a sugar? Or does Skyler take his coffee differently?"  
  
    "Usual's fine," Nick let out an unguarded yawn.  
  
    Judy let out an impressed hum as she saw Nick's jaw practically unhinge for his yawn. She emptied a small package of cream and a packet of sugar into Nick's coffee.  
  
    "I like my coffee like I like my females," Nick picked up the cup and took in its blessed aroma before taking a sip.  
  
    "Sweet and smooth?" Judy bat her eyes.  
  
    "No, covered in milk and sugar," Nick quipped, taking another sip.  
  
    Judy laughed into her paw, eating a bite of a strawberry-jelly pastry. "You're ridiculous." She then took a sip of her own, unaltered coffee.  
  
    " _I'm_ ridiculous?" Nick scoffed, placing a paw on his collarbone. "I don't know how you can drink coffee black."  
  
    Judy took a big, adventurous sip. "Blacker than a moonless night. Hotter and more bitter than the flames of the underworld itself...  _that_ is coffee."  
  
    "Didn't know Jacqueline was so hard-boiled," Nick chuckled, eating a pastry. "Ooh, blackberry. Not bad."  
  
    As the two were finishing up their breakfast, Judy began to look contemplative. "Something's just so weird about Pride. She's so... _nice_. She was chatting up a storm with people at breakfast, seemed very happy to see me, and we talked for a good five minutes before setting up the meeting."  
  
    "Maybe I could have noticed some tells if I was with you," Nick shrugged. "Mgh." Nick rose and walked to the thermostat. "A bit warm in here."  
  
    Judy shrugged. "A little. Put on the AC if you need it. Not like you could be wearing much less."  
  
    Nick placed one paw near the thermostat as he adjusted it for the AC to come on. He blinked slowly and looked at the curious bunny seated across the room. His eyes darted around as if he had a sudden thought. "Gh. Gotta use the restroom, Carrots. Be- be right out."  
  
    "C'mon, you were just in there!" Judy rolled her eyes. The bunny let out a long, satisfied sigh as she finished her coffee and picked up her phone to occupy herself, but it was missing most of her apps. "Oh, right, this is 'Jacqueline's' phone. Tsk." She picked up the complimentary newspaper and began to do the Sudoku puzzle. "Oh c'mon, a seven's gotta go there." She thought about looking at the solution briefly to see where she had messed up, but her ear twitched as she heard a sound coming from the bathroom. She walked toward it and started to hear labored panting. "...Nick?"  
  
    Judy heard the door decisively lock, then a groan mixed with a growl.  
  
    "Nick, what's wrong!?" Judy's eyes flew open in alarm.  
  
    "Nothing..." Nick's haggard voice came from beyond the door. "Must've... been something I ate last night." The panting continued.  
  
    "I think it's too late to try a new voice for Skyler," Judy joked. "Though that's a pretty good Christian Haybale impression."  
  
    Judy heard Nick chuckle and it eventually took on almost a sinister tone, then turned into a long hum. The panting continued, and eventually it was joined by more groans and growls. Judy's ears twitched as she heard an altogether unfamiliar sound; it sounded like a trilling howl.  
  
    "Nick...?" Judy knocked on the door.  
  
    "Jhhhhh...! Judy... just leave me be... few minutes," Nick's labored voice came back. "Be out... soon..."  
  
    "Are you sure you feel okay...?" Judy winced. There was no vocal response. "Nick...?"  
  
    After two more minutes that felt like a small eternity, Judy heard the bathroom door lock turn, but, instead of coming out, she heard a shuffling noise, like fur moving against the door.  
  
    Judy couldn't help herself and opened the door. Nick had been sitting against the door, and he slowly dropped to the floor, his back hitting it.   
  
    "Ugh..." Nick groaned.  
  
    "Nick!" Judy looked over him. "Nick... what's- what happened? ...What's that smell?" Judy's nose wrinkled as a heady, powerful aroma came from the bathroom.  
  
    "Your imagination," Nick said tiredly. "Need- just need a shower. Give me a few minutes."  
  
    Judy crouched over him and looked into his eyes. Nick tried a smile which looked extremely goofy. "Your eyes are pink... pupils dilated." Judy gasped. She placed her paw on Nick's wrist and winced at the accelerated pulse. "Nick! ...Nick you've been drugged!"  
  
    "Yeah, probably," Nick nodded weakly.  
  
    "We need to call this thing off!" Judy fretted, placing a hand near her mouth. "We've got to call the police; an ambulance!"  
  
    "Rgh... no, no," Nick shook his head. "It'll... probably wear off. Just need a cool shower... feel so hot..."  
  
    "Nick, are you going to let your stupid pride put you in danger!?" Judy looked indignant. "Who do you think you are, _me_!?"   
  
    "Guess you've rubbed off on me, honeybunny," Nick chuckled weakly.   
  
    "Nick, this isn't a _game_ -!" Judy placed her paws on his shoulders.  
  
    Nick responded by sitting up. "Oh, but it is. And the game's not over yet. We're so close..." Nick slowly got to his feet, causing Judy to let him go before she was lifted into the air. "Just... don't get so anxious, okay? My pulse's still racing, and you're making me nervous. I'll be fine. Just need a cold shower. Need to calm down." Nick headed back into the bathroom and turned the shower on.  
  
    "How... how did this _happen_?" Judy looked around, fretting and chewing at her claws. "How'd you get drugged? We both had the same breakfast from the same place- no..." Judy moved back to the empty tray. "Was- was it the cream or sugar? Had- had to be the sugar! Had to! White powder- no distinct smell or taste..."  
  
    Judy retrieved a plastic bag and picked up a napkin, placing the unused sugar packets into it. "There's randernephrol in these... has to be." After thinking, she added an unused cream too, just in case. "But how? The pastries weren't tainted... mh-maybe she switched some or all of the sugar packets out when no one else was there? Rgh, but there's no way to be sure it was _her_. Judy peered closely at the items in the bag. "Don't see a hair on them..."  
  
    The shower stopped, and Judy saw Nick come out with a less novelty pair of boxers on and start to dry himself off with a fur dryer. His countenance had fallen, and he looked grim.  
  
    "I think she switched out some of the sugar packets, Nick," Judy came up to him, raising her voice to talk over the fur dryer. "I just- I dunno if it's while I was talking to her or at the continental breakfast itself..."  
  
    "Mm," Nick nodded seriously. "That sounds likely, since it got me and not you."  
  
    "Are you feeling any better?" Judy asked in concern.   
  
    "Yeah, I think it's worn off," Nick returned in a loud, even voice. As he turned off the fur dryer, he sprayed himself with a generous amount of scent blocker, then put in his yellow contacts. Judy was taken aback briefly by the transformation. As he blinked his eyes after setting the contacts in, his expression became more "Nick"; lazy eyes and an easy smirk. Judy had never quite seen him put on his facade so clearly.  
  
    "So what do we do...?" Judy frowned. "I don't think we can get her for this..."  
  
    "No, we stick to the plan, Fluff," Nick nodded. "We play our role. We can't be action heroes on every case." Nick began to put on a sharp-looking suit. Before he put on his coat, his paws seemed to tremble with his tie and he couldn't quite tie it correctly. "Ugh."  
  
    "Let me," Judy bounced onto the counter and sat on it, facing Nick. The fox hesitated, but let the bunny tie his tie for him. Nick closed and opened his hands.   
  
    "Guess it hasn't completely worn off," Nick grumbled, rubbing his temples.  
  
    "We should get you to the hospital," Judy said, and before Nick protested, she added: "after the meeting with Pride."  
  
    "Yeah, probably," Nick nodded. One of his paws went up to Judy's face, but he dropped it before touching her.  
  
    Judy shook her head. "No, go ahead, if it will help relax you." She smiled softly.  
  
    With an even, almost reverent expression, Nick tenderly brushed her cheek with his paw. Judy returned a warm, caring smile, concern for the fox in her eyes. Nick added his other paw, stroking down her ears. Judy let him take as long as he needed, but found herself being carried off the counter and hugged by the fox. Nick brought her close to him chest and gave a shaky sigh.  
  
    "You're okay, Nick," Judy said from her floating position. Nick set her down.  
  
    "Whew..." Nick said. "That was a bit rough..."  
  
    "Why, though?" Judy's eyes squinted. " _Why_ did Pride want to drug us?"   
  
    "Maybe she thought she was doing us a favor," Nick sighed. "Maybe she was honestly taken with us." Nick's eyes darted off to the side. "Okay, Judy. Let's get on the same page here before we go meet with Pride, okay?"  
  
    "Of course," Judy nodded.  
  
    "...If she asks or implies..." Nick adjusted the knot in his tie in discomfort. "You and I just had the most mind-blowing sex of our lives."  
  
    "What...?" Judy's pupils became pinpricks. "Um... okay? But... do you think she'd be able to tell that we actually haven't...?"  
  
    Nick shrugged, and gestured at the scent blocker. "Use extra scent blocker, I guess."  
  
    Judy nodded. "You... you sure you wanna do this, Skyler?"  
  
    Nick winked. "Of course, Jacqueline. We're on the home stretch. Let's bring it in."  
  


* * *

  
    "Jacqueline! Skyler!" Miranda Pride seemed exuberant to see the two at her massive hotel suite. "I'm so glad you could make it." She nodded pleasantly to the moose and the wolverine in the room and they nodded back, exiting. "Thank you for coming."  
  
    "Of course, Ms. Pride," Judy smiled graciously.  
  
    "Did you both sleep well?" Miranda has a look of feline curiosity.  
  
    "Oh yeah, the beds are like clouds," Nick nodded. "The morning was pretty good too." Nick grinned at Judy and nudged her with his side.  
  
    "So good," Judy added a leering smile.  
  
    Miranda giggled. "Do tell!"  
  
    "Well I... I dunno," Nick tilted his head as if he was thinking. "I don't know if it was the party, the atmosphere, the speech, or what. But... I just felt so _invigorated_ , if you know what I mean."  
  
    "We had to put up the 'do not disturb' sign," Judy gave a naughty grin.  
  
    Miranda giggled again. "How wonderful! I do love it when interspecies couples can 'get along'." She chuckled, motioning for them to take a seat on her spacious couch. They did so, and she sat next to them. "I was wondering if you two could do me a tiny favor?"  
  
    "What would that be?" Judy asked.  
  
    "Well, what if I told you that the Prideswell Foundation is working to make even  _more_ interspecies couples as happy as yourselves?" Miranda laced her paws together and placed them on her lap. "We have an extensive program going that seeks to help mammals to better understand their feelings for one another."  
  
    "Really?" Nick leaned in with interest. "That sounds wonderful! What would you need from us?"  
  
    "Merely a reference and a glowing recommendation to your pharmaceutical provider," Miranda smiled charmingly. "You know, who you know and all. I'm  _still_ a bit of a new kitten in town." She bobbed her head from side to side with a humble laugh.  
  
    "I think we can definitely do that," Judy grinned. "We've had such a lovely time here." She took out her phone and gave Miranda the information she was supposed to. "We'll put in a good word for you."  
  
    "Oh, thank you so, so much," Miranda gasped as she got the information onto her phone standing up. "Unfortunately, I have to run... I'm so sorry. I hope to see you at my next party, okay?" Miranda rushed to the door and opened it. On the other side were the wolverine and moose, who entered the room. "Jerry? Trevor? I've got to run to another appointment I've made. Would you make sure our guests here are taken care of before they leave?" She waved to the two. "I'm so sorry I have to run..."  
  
    "No trouble at all!" Nick offered, getting up along with Judy.  
  
    The door shut, and the rough-looking moose and wolverine blocked the way. Nick and Judy both wore even expressions. This was it, they were going to have to fight. The moose and wolverine gave them leering looks, smirking. Nick looked to Judy and nudged his muzzle in the direction of the wolverine, and Judy nodded slightly. Right before they were about to make the first move, the two male mammals looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
    "So uh... what do you two wanna do?" the wolverine scratched at his head.  
  
    "You like movies at all?" the moose rubbed behind his head. "Dang, I hate when Miranda leaves us to do the hospitality junk. I'm no good at it."  
  
    "She's a busy mammal," the wolverine gestured with his hand flippantly. "Oh, oh! I know! You two heard of Breath of the Wild Hog?"  
  
    "Is that... some sort of hard liquor?" Nick perked up an eyebrow.   
  
    "Oh my God, Jerry," Trevor, the moose, sighed in exasperation. "Are you really going to go off on that stupid video game again?" Judy blinked in bewilderment and shared the look with Nick.  
  
    "Guys, guys listen, it's just the best in the _series_!" the wolverine held his hands out close to each other in enthusiasm. "I've got like... two dozen hours on it already. It's  _so_ much better than the Ocarina of Swine and Skyward Pork."  
  
    "Tch," Trevor shook his head. "Ain't no way it's better than Sausage Link to the Past. That's what I grew up on."  
  
    "If you'd just try it and took off those stupid nostalgia goggles of yours-!" the wolverine glowered at him, then stopped short as Nick staggered, a paw over his lap. "Whoa, you okay, buddy?"  
  
    "Just a... bit of a stomach cramp," Nick grumbled. Judy's eyes widened in concern, and she placed her paws on Nick's arm.  
  
    The two goons laughed at each other. The moose held up a hand. "Oh right, _right_. Yeah, you should drink some water, usually clears that up."  
  
    "If it's all the same to you," Nick said amicably, "I think Jacqueline and I should run, too. We've got appointments to keep as well."  
  
    "Oh, sure, sure!" Jerry said. The two moved out of the way of the door. "See you two 'round."  
  
    Nick and Judy left, feeling anxiety follow them as they walked between the thuggish-looking mammals.  
  
    "So weird," Judy whispered as the two got away from Pride's suite. "I thought for sure they were going to attack us..."  
  
    "Just as well they didn't," Nick groaned, placing his spare paw on his forehead. "I've got a splitting headache as well. Might not have ended so well for me."  
  
    "So you didn't fake the stomachache?" Judy whispered. Nick shook his head, an uncomfortable expression on his muzzle. "Okay... let's check out and get you to a hospital, Skyler..."  
  
    Nick nodded, trying not to lean too hard on Judy as the two headed back to their hotel room.   
  
    "I just don't get Pride..." Judy whispered to herself. "Just what is she up to?"  
  
    "Dunno. Hopefully..." Nick grumbled as they approached their hotel room. "Hopefully Fangie and Wolfie have better luck..."


	7. Pursuit

    "Ah! Wilde's out of the hospital," Officer Wolford said in relief, checking his phone. The wolf was sitting next to Officer Fangmeyer; the two were dressed in delivery uniforms as the tiger drove a marked van to a specified destination.  
  
    "Mm," Fangmeyer grunted. "Can't believe that fox went and got himself drugged on his first undercover assignment."  
  
    "Fangmeyer," Wolford's brow dropped. "C'mon. We only have the cliff notes of what went down at the party."  
  
    "Well, what went down is that our operation was almost compromised," Fangmeyer sneered. She gripped the steering wheel tighter with her paws. "Just as well that Wilde and Hopps be out of commission for the rest of this case."  
  
    "What is your problem with those two?" Wolford sucked at his teeth.  
  
    "Well, let's see," Fangmeyer enumerated with a faux playful voice, "we have a bunny, a _bunny_ , who comes to us from Bunnyburrow, picks up a hustler off the streets, and solves the biggest crisis to ever hit modern Zootopia. These rookie hotshots are lauded as heroes, and have the adoration of the city. Meanwhile, hard-working cops like you and me, who have been in Zootopia all our lives, working for the city tirelessly, barely get a birthday cake to our names in recognition."  
  
    "But you... you  _did_ get a birthday cake from the Chief..." Wolford blinked.  
  
    "Yeah, on the wrong day," Fangmeyer scoffed.  
  
    "Well, did someone ask you to write it down?" Wolford smirked. "Your handwriting is horrible. Maybe it was an honest mistake."  
  
    "Just... whatever," Fangmeyer let her fingertips go from the steering wheel before gripping it again. "If a bunny's gonna be working for the ZPD, I think she should be behind a desk, like Skippel."  
  
    "That's not very fair," Wolford scowled. "We were picked for this mission because we're the best scrappers in the precinct. That's including people like Trunkaby and Grizzoli, who tower over us."  
  
    "It doesn't matter one way or another now," Fangmeyer made a left-hand turn. "Those tiny cops won't be around to bumble their way through the rest of this case."  
  
    "Right, so we've got to make sure to do our jobs," Wolford nodded in determination.  
  
    "Always have," Fangmeyer scowled.  
  


* * *

  
    "Ah jeez," Jerry winced as Trevor pulled Miranda Pride's purple sporty car into the parking lot. The wolverine looked at the delivery truck as it arrived and at the two animals inside. "They brought out a wolf and a friggin' _tiger_?"  
  
    "Now now, just try to stay calm, Jerry," Miranda smiled, "we're doing nothing wrong." Jerry double-checked the suitcase on his lap and nodded.   
  
    Pride got out of the vehicle first and waved at the delivery truck. Fangmeyer and Wolford exchanged a short look and got out as well.  
  
    "My, they sent such  _capable_ animals for this drop-off," Miranda's grin grew larger as she looked over Wolford and Fangmeyer, with her eyes lingering for a second or two on the tigress.   
  
    "Well, y'know, it ain't 'zactly protocol to make a delivery to a random mall parking lot," Wolford said, his voice thick with a city accent. Fangmeyer found her eyes moving toward Wolford at the sudden change, but she nodded in agreement at his statement.  
  
    "Oh, come now," Miranda held her arms open wide. "We're in a public parking lot in the middle of the day! To add to that, I'm purchasing a perfectly legal drug from you two."  
  
    "Yeah well, the only reason we even came out hea is cuz our boss said we hadta," Wolford put his hands on his hips. Fangmeyer fought the urge to roll her eyes.   
  
    "Now, do you have the money?" Fangmeyer's question sounded like a command. Miranda nodded once, and the moose and wolverine got out of her car. The wolverine stepped closer and started to open the briefcase. This made the two undercover officers tense up slightly, but they saw that there was merely money inside, and Wolford's sniffing at the air confirmed this to him. "Okay, c'mon back and we'll get you the goods." The lioness and her flunkies followed Fangmeyer to the back of the truck. She opened it, and there were two boxes inside.  
  
    Miranda looked over the boxes. "Yes... yes, this is exactly what I need. This should last me for a good bit." She closed her eyes and smiled pleasantly. "Ah, I must thank you. This medicine will make so many mammals happy..."  
  
    Fangmeyer sighed. "Listen, lady, I don't care about that. I'm just trying to do my job and get home before dinner."  
  
    Miranda giggled, a paw on her chest. "My, so brusque!" She nodded to her lackeys. "Take the boxes, and give them the money."  
  
    "You got it, boss," Jerry said, offering them the suitcase. The moose and wolverine each took one of the boxes; the two struggling a little bit with them due to their size.  
  
    "Need any help 'dere?" Wolford appeared behind the three.  
  
    "Aw naw, naw, I think I got it," Trevor nodded.  
  
    "Yeah, I'm fine," Jerry shook his head.   
  
    "I hope we can count on you people to deliver more of this should the need arise?" Miranda clasped her hands.   
  
    "Long as you have the money," Fangmeyer shrugged. She and Wolford entered the delivery truck and started it up. Miranda had her helpers put the boxes in the trunk of her car and they all loaded up. The tigress looked intensely at the car from behind the driver's seat, but it left without incident. Fangmeyer watched the car go, and as soon as it was out of sight she slapped the steering wheel in frustration.  
  
    "Jeez, what's wrong?" Wolford's eyes flew open.  
  
    "Really wished we could've taken them down right then and there," Fangmeyer growled in anger. "If she'd given me half a reason...!"  
  
    "Chill, Fangie," Wolford shook his head. "Everything went according to plan."  
  
    "Oh,  _please_ don't call me Fangie," Fangmeyer whined, sneering, "that's what that stupid fox calls me." She growled to herself. "So... you got the bug on the car?"  
  
    "Sure did," Wolford nodded, "right as you moved them to the back of the van." He began to text on his phone. "Letting Skippel know that they should be able to track her vehicle now."  
  
    "Good boy," Fangmeyer quipped, pulling out of the parking lot. Wolford chuckled mildly and shook his head.  
  


* * *

  
    Miranda took a small sip of champagne as she sighed in happiness. Another enjoyable charity gala was under way, this one on the porch of a large building in Sahara Square. Miranda shivered pleasantly at the cool evening air. She then giggled into her paw as she saw a well-dressed female squirrel riding a male wolf's shoulder.  
  
    "Goodness, are you two...?" Miranda demurely pointed between the two.  
  
    "Yes indeed," the wolf smiled at Miranda. "Jane and I are mates. We were honored to get a chance to come to this party."  
  
    "Wonderful! I'm so glad you could come," Miranda smiled at the two pleasantly. "I... must admit I find myself curious as to the... mmm... how to put it politely..."  
  
    The squirrel laughed. "Oh, we make do. It just takes a little imagination."  
  
    The wolf nodded. "A lot of imagination, and a lot of willingness to try new things."  
  
    "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you two," Miranda smiled broadly, and felt herself get solidly bumped into. Turning around, she saw a snow leopard in a fetching royal blue dress.  
  
    "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," the snow leopard held her paws up in alarm.   
  
    "No harm done," Miranda's smile faltered, but remained. Her eyes narrowed and she pointed at the snow leopard. "Wait, aren't you...?"  
  
    "Fabienne Growley, ZNN," the snow leopard nodded.  
  
    "Oh, I was  _wondering_ if you'd be able to come!" Miranda gasped in delight. "Is there anyone else at ZNN here?"  
  
    "No, but I was thinking it'd be nice if we could secure an interview with you sooner or later," Fabienne smiled. "Interspecies rights is a hot-button issue right now, and I'd like to get the opinions and story of someone like yourself."  
  
    "I think I can definitely arrange that!" Miranda clapped her paws three times in happiness. "Would you perhaps like to come by the Prideswell Foundation tomorrow perhaps? I can give you a tour?"  
  
    Fabienne nodded. "I'd like that. I'll be sure to get some questions ready for you."  
  
    "Great!" Miranda shook her paws excitedly. "This will be fun!"  
  


* * *

  
    "And here's my office," Miranda introduced, letting Fabienne in. Miranda took her phone out and turned it all the way off, laying it on her desk. "There we are."  
  
    "Wow...  this place looks nice; more like a room than a place of work," Fabienne marveled at the decor.  
  
    "Yes, well, I  _do_ like to decorate in my spare time," Miranda smiled. "I can't really work somewhere that doesn't feel like a home, you know?"  
  
    Fabienne nodded.   
  
    "We've been here so long and I haven't even offered you anything to drink," Miranda smiled apologetically, "Please pull up a chair. Would you like some coffee or tea? Cold or hot? Sweet or unsweetened?"  
  
    "Despite what my voice's tone might let on, I do actually enjoy a nice cold glass of sweet tea once in awhile," Fabienne smiled, sitting in a comfortable chair.  
  
    "Of course, let me get that for you," Miranda went to a fridge in her office and retrieved some tea. "Pardon me if I'm being forward, but is there a particular reason why you're concerned about interspecies rights?"  
  
    "Well, at ZNN we do strive to be impartial, just telling the news as it comes..." Fabienne looked away.  
  
    "Oh, but I asked _you_ , Ms. Growley," Miranda smiled, pouring a glass of tea after dropping some ice cubes into a glass.  
  
    "Personally, I have an attraction to other female cats," Fabienne said in a reserved voice, "but it's a little bit taboo to be an interspecies-loving homosexual, so that hasn't exactly come out over the air."  
  
    "You're attracted to other cats?" Miranda blinked, and her smile suddenly faltered.  
  
    "Is... is that a problem?" Fabienne blinked.  
  
    "Oh no, no... not at all," Miranda struggled to reattain her smile. "It's just... that reminds me of being a little teenage kitten myself." Miranda dipped a spoon into a sugar bowl. "You did say 'sweet' right?"  
  
    "Please," Fabienne nodded, then appeared inquisitive. "That is... actually one thing I really wanted to ask you during the interview. Just how did you come into doing..." Fabienne gestured across the office. "All _this_?"  
  
    "A spoonfull of sugar... and, there," Miranda gave the tea to Fabienne, who eagerly drank from it. "Well, I can tell you what got me started... I always did want to work for charity, as my parents had. You know, the 'Pride' family, kind of goes paw-in-paw with it, right?"  
  
    "I wouldn't say I 'growl' all that much, but I can see where you're coming from," Fabienne chuckled.  
  
    Miranda's brow fell and she looked contemplative. "When I was about seventeen... I fell hard for a cheetah at my high school. Her name was Shana Macer. So gorgeous and lithe, as cheetahs tend to be. I suppose from the parties I throw you can tell I've always been a bit of an extrovert. It wasn't too different in those days. I was always getting invited to places, getting hit on. I only had eyes for her, though, and as it turned out, she was a lesbian."  
  
    "Did it work out?" Fabienne wondered, taking another sip of her tea.  
  
    Miranda shook her head, sighing. "She said it wasn't me, just that I was a lioness. I couldn't understand it. Cheetahs and lions are very close... we're still felines, of course. But... she wanted another cheetah, I suppose. We'd gotten along fine before, but the admission I made to her drove us apart."  
  
    "Ooh, that's tragic..." Fabienne winced.  
  
    "So..." Miranda fought her smile back onto her face. "I decided that I didn't want other mammals to feel the sort of rejection I did. I wanted to remove the taboos associated with feeling attraction for another species. And yes... maybe I wanted to become an important and powerful member of society to show Shana what she was missing." Miranda giggled into her paw. "I never did hear from her; perhaps she found her own cheetah princess somewhere."  
  
    "So all this altruism does have a 'dark past'," Fabienne laughed.  
  
    "I guess you could say it does," Miranda giggled. "Though I'd never want to hurt anyone. I'm all about bringing mammals together, not driving them apart."  
  
    Some time went on; Fabienne was starting to forget just how much. Despite her cool refreshment, she began to feel warmer. She swallowed, especially because Miranda was sitting on her desk with her legs folded and her skirt was just short enough to be quite tantalizing. Or perhaps she was imagining things.  
  
    "If it's not too much of a personal question," Miranda began, "are you in a relationship at the moment?"  
  
    Fabienne shook her head. "No actually... I did have a... a rather pleasant fling with a black jaguar female a year or more ago." Fabienne placed a paw to her chest. She wasn't sure why she'd revealed this so easily. "But I dh-don't think it would have worked out between us. She's a rather firm advocate for nudity and... I'm afraid that if I got that associated with me at ZNN, I might get myself into trouble."  
  
    "Oh..." Miranda looked pitying. "That's such a shame." The lioness got off her desk and drew closer, bending over Fabienne a little. "If it were me, I don't think I'd let that get in the way. News corporations... mmm..." Miranda looked off to the side. "They're always so concerned about reporting the bad, mean, and terrifying news and they rarely have any time for the fun, delightful things." Pride shrugged. "I've been here about a year and it's taken this long for the media to show an interest in me, after all." She sighed.  
  
    "It was me... mostly me," Fabienne puffed out a breath of air, "who showed an interest in you."  
  
    "Really now..." Miranda displayed a cloying smile, "has it been a little while then?"  
  
    "Pardon..." Fabienne huffed. "Pardon me?"  
  
    Miranda drew closer and tenderly pet at Fabienne's cheek, which she found herself leaning into, a strained mewl escaping. "Aw... there we are..."  
  
    "Ah... what's coming over me?" Fabienne let out a terse, nervous giggle. "Whew... I shouldn't be doing this... I shouldn't get close to a source like this."  
  
    "Oh come now, don't be ashamed," Miranda cooed, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I can sense what you need, just a little break from the world... just some time to enjoy yourself as a mammal, free from the judging eye of society..."  
  
    "It would be nice... to be able to relax," Fabienne admitted with a weak chuckle. She swallowed as Miranda drew closer and gave her a tender, but lingering kiss on the lips. Fabienne found herself panting a little after the small kiss, a purr rumbling into her throat.  
  
    "Let's just enjoy ourselves for a while," Miranda smiled, starting to unbutton her blouse. "No one has to judge us for this..."  
  
    Fabienne nodded and leaned up to kiss Miranda again, more desperately than the lioness had kissed her. Miranda hummed musically into the kiss and started to pet behind Fabienne's head tenderly.  
  
    "It has... been a long time since I've been with another cat," Fabienne smiled headily.  
  
    "Then it won't be much longer now..." Miranda smiled charmingly.  
  
    The lioness shrieked and leaped backwards as a loud crash shook the room. A polar bear charged into Miranda's office, and Fabienne gasped in shock.  
  
    "Miranda Pride!" the police officer polar bear pointed at her. "Stop right there; you're under arrest for aiding and abetting in the production  _and_ distribution of randernephrol."  
  
    "What? Nh-no, no!" Miranda recoiled. A hippo officer also entered the room.  
  
    "Higgins, I've got Pride," the polar bear said in a steely voice. "You check if- is that Fabienne Growley...?"  
  
    "From the news," Higgins said in an awed voice. "I'll see if she's all right, Grizzoli."   
  
    "Randernephrol...?" Fabienne tried to move, but her stomach cramped and she winced. "Oh no... oh no..."  
  
    "Stop, please, you're ruining everything!" Miranda fretted, her paws up and shaking. "Fabienne and I were having a tender moment, it was consensual... consensual I tell you...!"  
  
    "Uh huh, tell it to the judge," Grizzoli stomped over. "Shall I read you your Miranda rights, Miranda? First of all, you've got the right to remain silent. Hands behind your back, and keep those claws in or there'll be trouble."  
  
    Miranda cringed, but did as she was instructed, being roughly cuffed against her desk. "Nghh... so brutish..."  
  
    "Ms. Growley, are you all right? I'm going to call an ambulance for you," Higgins knelt by her.  
  
    "Yes... that would be... fine," Fabienne uncomfortably rubbed her legs against each other.  
  
    "No, please, you don't understand!" Miranda's eyes began to get glassy. "I've done nothing wrong!"  
  
    "Uh huh," Grizzoli brought Miranda up firmly, directing her out of the room. "S'what they all say."  
  


* * *

  
    The media was swarming outside the ZPD as Miranda Pride was brought in, but they were not allowed into the building itself. Judy and Nick found themselves taken by an eerie feeling as they looked at the live footage from ZNN inside the ZPD, which was also the situation right outside of their doors.  
  
    "This is ZNN. We're bringing you a special report tonight," Peter Moosebridge said.  
  
    A tanuki nodded. "I'm Michael Tanuyama, in for Fabienne Growley. A high profile arrest has been made in the randernephrol case."  
  
    "The alleged prime supplier and distributor of randernephrol is none other than Miranda Pride, who's being taken into the ZPD even as we speak," Peter said.  
  
    "Keep her steady, keep her _steady_ ," Chief Bogo growled as Grizolli pushed her along.  
  
    Miranda walked by Nick and Judy, and noticing them, gave a surprised gasp. Horror seemed to flood her face. Judy had an anxious expression on, whereas Nick's spoke one of anger.  
  
    "Keep her _moving_ ," Chief Bogo instructed. Grizzoli nodded and tugged the lioness away from staring at the bunny and the fox.  
  
    Nick and Judy stood there as the whirlwind of activity abated like a midday storm and eventually they were left nearly alone in the lobby.  
  
    "I... I just don't get it," Judy murmured. "Pride just... she didn't seem like a bad guy."  
  
    "Neither did Bellwether 'til she tried to get me to kill you," Nick said bitterly.  
  
    "But even just then, did you see?" Judy shook her head, gesturing in the direction she had been taken. "She had this look of distress... I..."  
  
    "Are you feeling sorry for her?" Nick's voice was tense, held his arms out. "Do you think the ZPD's work was faulty?"  
  
    "Skippel tracked her car to a warehouse..." Judy looked at her hands, starting to count on her fingers. "So she definitely dropped the stuff off there..."  
  
    "A few of her employees were found there," Nick went on, "and we could only get into the warehouse in the first place because Pride didn't technically own that property yet. We seized the employees phones, found directives from Pride. It's pretty cut and dry."  
  
    "But _why_?" Judy's brow fell. "Why do something so risky and dangerous while at the same time trying to actually do something good for the world...?"  
  
    "Honestly?" Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."   
  
    Judy shook her head, sighing heavily as if the burden of inquisitiveness would slough off that easily.  
  
    It wasn't working its way out of Nick's head, either. He wanted to know the answer himself.


	8. A Fall

    "Stop, wh-wait, please, you don't- you don't have to do this..." a terrified jackal said frantically as the large unmarked car arrived at its destination. The jackal squinted from behind his glasses as he looked at the arctic fox icily staring back at him. He wriggled, but his wrists and ankles were bound tightly with zip ties.  
  
    Koslov, in the driver's seat, craned his head to look at the arctic fox in the back, who was putting on shoes.  
  
    "Is true Cherry, we do not have to do this," Koslov grinned maliciously. "We could do... other things."  
  
    "No, I'm pretty sure this is what I want to do," Cherry narrowed her eyes sharply at the jackal. "Koslov, the door, if you please?"  
  
    "Of course, Cherry," Koslov pressed a button to automatically pop open the back seat's door, and Cherry kicked solidly with both feet, sending the jackal out of the car with a shriek.  
  
    "Agh! Rgh! Ghh!" The jackal's glasses tumbled off uselessly as he let out grunts of pain, rolling across the stone floor. The arctic fox decisively closed the door behind her and the car sped off. "Hhhgh..." Mammals started to take note and rush to him; and he noticed through his blurry vision where he was: right on the doorstep of the ZPD. "... _crap_."  
  


* * *

  
    "So here you are," Commissioner Freemammal said to Miranda Pride as he chewed on some gum. She was sitting behind bars at a ZPD holding cell, awaiting her trial. "Thought for sure you'd try to bail out. Even though I'd have advised against it. You're a flight risk, you see." Standing a few paces back from Freemammal was Officer Grizzoli, who kept guard with crossed arms.  
  
    Miranda shook her head vehemently. "No, I don't want any other of my employees to be brought into this. I hope they flee Zootopia before it's too late."  
  
    Freemammal shot her an intense glower, then pulled a stick of gum out of his coat and pointed it at Miranda. "You think you're some kind of martyr or something? You think that's how the world's gonna see you when all this is over?" Freemammal unwrapped the gum and shoved it into his mouth.  
  
    "All I wanted to do was bring mammals together..." Miranda said sadly.  
  
    "Yeah, with that 'Randy' nonsense," Freemammal sneered. "My daughter's pregnant because of your shenanigans."  
  
    "Well I... shouldn't I be happy for you?" Miranda asked.  
  
    "She's still a teenager!" Freemammal shouted, then took a few seconds to snort and chew at his gum. "She's not ready to be a mother, and her boyfriend's certainly not ready to be a father!" Freemammals hands twitched as they were in his pocket, then he brought another stick of gum into his mouth. "You really think you've done interspecies couples a service with this whole drug business? Everyone screwin' anywhere they please like they were at a brothel?"  
  
    Miranda frowned slightly. "I don't think love is ever a mistake."  
  
    "Listen, cat, I don't know what kind of fantasy land you live in, but-" the moose started, but Chief Bogo peeked his head into the room.  
  
    "Commissioner! I think you might want to see this," Bogo said, a concerned expression on his face. "A bespectacled male jackal was dropped off at the ZPD, bound at the wrists and ankles."  
  
    "Any idea why?" Freemammal's eyebrow piqued, but he heard Miranda make a shallow gasp. The moose turned his head to give Miranda a brief, piercing glance. "Ah, must be one of hers. Well, we have to loose him... eventually." Freemammal started to head out with Bogo.   
  
    "We can ask him about why he was tied up, then go from there," Bogo nodded, going out with the Commissioner.  
  
    "Hey, Wilde," Grizzoli nodded to the fox as he walked up towards Miranda's cell. "Ah, don't get too close there, she's still got a bit of a reach, and her claws."  
  
    "As if I would ever," Miranda frowned, looking at her claws. "I thought about having them removed once, actually... but they are fun to decorate." She managed a small smile as the fox stared holes in her for a full minute. "Skyler... though I suppose that's not your real name."  
  
    Nick showed his teeth in a snarl, then closed his lips, trying to control himself. He began to enunciate: "You almost ruined  _everything_ between me and my partner...!" Miranda flinched back and even Grizzoli's eyes widened, as he had never seen Nick even close to angry before.  
      
    "Goodness... I presume you mean the bunny...?" Miranda stayed back from the bars, looking at the fox's hatred-filled face. "You two aren't actually together? Oh, that's such a shame..."  
  
    "Shut it!" Nick barked. "What were you trying to do, anyway?  _Make_ us mate like two mammals in rut?" Miranda said nothing, and Nick fumed, pushing away from the cell's bars. "I can't believe this... I was so close- so close to throwing away the one chance I've ever gotten to turning my life around..."  
  
    "Easy, Wilde," Grizzoli put his large paw on Nick's shoulder.  
  
    "I... hate to tell you this..." Miranda put on the barest hint of a smile. "But Randy can't make you attracted to someone against your orientation. He's only supposed to bring mammals together that have an attraction to-"  
  
    "You  _brainless, air-headed_ _FELINE_!" Nick shot forward and grabbed the bars with his paws. Miranda gasped and moved further back in her cell.  
  
    "Okay Wilde, bring it back," Grizzoli tugged Nick back with his paw. Nick growled and shrugged it off.  
  
    "I can't believe this is how you think things are!" Nick shouted at Miranda. "That we mammals can just  _screw_ each other whenever the thought crosses our minds!" Nick thrust his fingers into the side of his head then threw them off in fury. "You think everyone using Randy has some sort of noble goal!? What about the mammals that are ODing? What about the ones who're using it to rape others?"  
  
    "No... Randy isn't supposed to be used that way," Miranda shook her head firmly, a look of fright on her face. "He's supposed to... to help mammals find their true feelings for each other..."  
  
    "I've met a lot of naive idiots in my time..." Nick seethed, "but I don't know that I've ever met one quite so foolish as you."  
  
    "I've just been trying to help... really I have..." Miranda squeaked.  
  
    "Wilde...?" Grizzoli warned.  
  
    "I'm done, Grizzoli," Nick turned and stormed out of the room without a glance back.  
  


* * *

      
    "Nick?" Judy called out as Nick left the ZPD's doors and walked down the steps. "Nick!" She rushed along to meet him.  
  
    "What is it?" Nick barely turned his eyes to look at her.  
  
    "Nick, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Judy looked up at him, concern evident on her face.  
  
    "Doc said I was fine," Nick shrugged one shoulder.  
  
    "That's not really what I meant..." Judy pursued, a note of panic in her voice. She gestured with both of her hands, giving a breath of frustration. "I just... ever since you were drugged, it's like- I dunno. You've been so sullen and withdrawn lately, even for you. I just- nh... I want my Nick back..."   
  
    Nick stopped moving and after a pace so did Judy. Nick looked at Judy warily.   
  
    " _Your_ Nick...?" Nick asked quietly. Judy nodded quickly in response. Nick felt like his teeth were going to shatter against each other in his mouth. Eventually, he spoke again: "Judy... do you still trust me?"  
  
    "Yh-yes, of course!" Judy brightened up a shade, leaning forward onto her feet toward him.  
  
    Nick looked off to the side, then circled around behind Judy and brought his arms around her, lifting her up from the ground.  
  
    "Aw, Nick..." Judy started to smile. "This is a bit more like it!"  
  
    "Try to get loose from me, Judy," Nick said stonily.  
  
    "Wh-what?" Judy blinked. "Why?"  
  
    "Just do it. Try," Nick directed coldly. Judy grunted, starting to flail and wiggle, but she couldn't push out of Nick's grasp. In fact, when it seemed she was making any headway, Nick just held her tighter.   
  
    "Nick, wha- what are you doing...?" Judy's voice was nearly trembling. Her nose began to twitch.  
  
    "Just get away from me, Judy," Nick repeated. Judy struggled ever harder, even pushing her strong legs against Nick's midsection, but she couldn't break free.  
  
    "Nick...!" Judy was beginning to feel panicked, her breaths coming quicker.  
  
    "Get _away_ , Judy!" Nick growled.   
  
    With a final thrash and pull, Judy tried one last time with a struggling shout, but it was to no avail.  
  
    "I... I can't, Nick! I _cant_!" Judy's voice was desperate and confused, her ears drooping. Nick softly set her down, turned away from her, and sat down on one of the steps to the ZPD, curling into himself. Judy approached him cautiously. A few policemammals had noticed the set of events, but Judy shook her head and motioned to them to steer clear. She swallowed and approached Nick; the fox's head was in his hands.  
  
    "I said to go... leave..." Nick shivered. His voice was hoarse, and he seemed on the verge of tears.  
  
    "Nick, please tell me what's wrong..." Judy's voice as gentle as she sat down next to him, one step higher than the one he was sitting on. "Please...?"  
  
    "Judy," Nick's voice was barely a whisper, "I almost  _raped_ you..."  
  
    "...What?" Judy's ears shot up and she blinked. "Nh- no you didn't... you couldn't have-"  
  
    "You don't think so...?" Nick shook and turned his head away. "You said it yourself. You trust me. You... you wouldn't have known what was wrong until it was too late. You wouldn't have been able to break free of me if I really- if I got on you..."  
  
    "Nick..." Judy went to place a hand on him, but Nick scooted away from the contact. Judy placed her hand down and sighed. "You were drugged, Nick, you didn't do anything untoward."  
  
    "Didn't I?" Nick's teeth were showing in a frustrated grimace, and a couple tears escaped from the corners of each of his eyes. "When I was in the bathroom I was... I was 'taking care' of myself." This didn't seem to phase Judy, and Nick closed his eyes in shame. "It was _you_ I was thinking about. The whole time. How I just wanted to _ngh_ -" Nick violently thrust a hand forward into the air, sneering. "And just... slam into you _over_ and _over_ while you cried out... spend myself into you... leave you panting and gasping for more.  _That's_ what I was thinking about."  
  
    "Nick, you were _drugged_ ," Judy repeated.  
  
    "The drug doesn't... the drug doesn't pull desires from thin air, Judy," Nick said in an utterly defeated voice. "Some of that was... already there... awoken like a hibernating mammal."  
  
    Judy paused, unsure of what to say. She placed a hand on her chest and slightly looked away.  
  
    "And this is _definitely_ how I wanted to tell you," Nick said sourly. "Yup, that's him. Ol' Nick Wilde. Wants to bone his best friend."  
  
    "Nick, don't be ashamed," Judy said, pouring warmth into her voice. She moved to touch his shoulder again, but stopped as Nick rose. "Listen, Nick, I-"  
  
    "Judy..." Nick sucked in a sharp breath, then let it out slowly. "I... I just can't talk about this right now, okay? I need some time alone."  
  
    Judy's lower lip quivered a little. She wanted more than anything to help her partner through this, and it felt excruciatingly difficult that the thing Nick wanted right now was something she desperately didn't want to do.  
  
    "...Okay Nick, I'll leave you alone," Judy said softly, rising slowly.   
  
    "I'll... see you later," Nick offered weakly, slowly shuffling away. Judy felt the muscles in her legs tense, as if any moment they could start moving without her telling them to and chase after the fox, but they didn't.  
  
    Chief Bogo looked out the front of the ZPD and spotted Judy, rushing over to her.  
  
    "What's going on, Hopps?" Bogo asked, his voice concerned. "I got word that Wilde had lost his marbles out here."  
  
    "I think Nick being drugged..." Judy looked up at her boss sadly, "I think it affected him much more than he let on."  
  
    Chief Bogo's eyes widened, but then his brow fell and he nodded decisively. "Take the rest of the week off. Both of you."  
  
    "But sir-" Judy began, holding her hands palm up.  
  
    "That was not a request," Chief Bogo threw back firmly. He started to walk away, but turned his head. "I'll not have two of my best officers defeated by something like this. You two take your time and work things out."  
  
    "Aye, sir," Judy nodded. She looked back at where Nick had been, and fervently hoped she would be able to do just that.


	9. Breaking the Fall

    "Thank you for joining us this evening on ZNN," Peter Moosebridge said. "I'm Peter Moosebridge."  
  
    "And I'm Michael Tanuyama," the tanuki greeted, "Fabienne Growley is on leave."  
  
    Judy stood at the street corner, half-watching the evening news through the window of an electronics store. It had been a long few days after Chief Bogo had ordered her to take some time off. Without going to work and unable to hang out with Nick, the bunny found herself restless.   
  
    "There's been a new development on the randernephrol case," Peter announced. Judy looked up from typing into her phone.  
  
    "An indictment has been made against another person of interest, a jackal named Jake Hollow," Michael said, and the image of a jackal with glasses came up on screen. "He is suspected to have been behind the development and chemical structure of the street drug."  
  
    "The ZPD had received many tips through anonymous sources that eventually led to his arrest," Peter said next. "The ZPD's second rabbit officer, Karen Skippel-" at this point a picture of the slightly shocked-looking arctic hare came onscreen.  
  
    "Ooh, that is  _really_ not the best picture of her," Judy winced.  
  
    "-provided this statement earlier today," Peter concluded as Judy was talking. The scene switched to Karen, who had a ZPD microphone near her face and looked somewhat nervous.  
  
    "Ah, yes, we obtained a lot of information through anonymous sources," Karen said, her voice somewhere between nervous and even. "We of course verified the information and that led to Mr. Hollow's arrest. While Ms. Pride was involved with the distribution of the drug and is not absolved from wrongdoing, it appears as though the idea of the drug was authored by Mr. Hollow." Karen's eyes then looked directly at the screen. "We're asking those with any more relevant information to come forward and be rewarded."  
  
    Judy chuckled. "I don't think you're going to get the hacker  _that_ easily, Skip."  
  


* * *

  
    It was a chilly evening, and Judy's recent walks had her wandering as far as she thought she could go before getting utterly bored and feeling like taking the subway home. She found herself on Hill Street nearing the tall, curving bridge that connected Downtown to the Rainforest District. The bunny moved over the bridge on its sidewalk, cars passing her by. She kept her paws in her pockets.  
  
    In the distance, in the gap between the bridge's lights, Judy thought she saw a small figure standing precariously close to the edge. Judy narrowed her eyes and walked closer, then stiffened in fear. It was a despondent-looking chipmunk, his head aimed down at the water far below. Judy quickly pulled out her phone and called the ZPD without delay.  
  
    "Officer Hopps," Judy said in a frantic voice, "possible 10-56A on the Hill Street Bridge, Downtown side. Requesting Code 2. Repeat, Officer Hopps on the Hill Street Bridge, possible 10-56A."  
  
    "Copy that, Hopps," Benjamin Clawhauser's voice came over her phone, "sending units now."  
  
    Judy winced as she saw the chipmunk begin to move his foot over the edge, then he brought it back and moved against the support he was closest to in fright.  
  
    "H-hey... hi there...!" Judy slowly approached, her hands open and trying to look as non-threatening as possible.   
  
    "St-stay back!" the chipmunk warned.  
  
    "Okay, staying back!" Judy froze. "...My name's Judy... what's yours?"  
  
    There was an uncomfortable pause. The chipmunk didn't look at Judy; his eyes were fixed on the fall before him. "It's Cory."  
  
    "How about- how about you step back a little from there, Cory?" Judy asked. "We can talk. I love talking; jh-just ask anyone!"  
  
    "What's the point...?" Cory asked in an even voice. "Ev-everything's messed up..."  
  
    Judy beckoned desperately. "Tell me what's upsetting you, okay?"  
  
    The chipmunk slowly took one step back and looked at the bunny for about a half second. "Uh... I've got this girl I like. Carrie. Up til recently I didn't know how she felt about me. Then one day..." the chipmunk swallowed difficultly, "she had this... this stuff to try. They call it Randy on the news, yeah?"  
  
    Judy kept her gasp quiet, but nodded.  
  
    "And Carrie, she's..." the chipmunk looked like he was choking, "she's a mustelid, a stoat. She wanted to try the stuff with me, and we did... and I thought it was all good at first when we were... y'know... but then she couldn't calm down... started acting weird and getting all these symptoms. I had to fess up about what we did..."  
  
    "And...?" Judy led. She shivered, hoping backup would be there soon.  
  
    "She's... still in the hospital... doctors said her heat cycle is really messed up," Cory said, his face scrunched up and tear-streaked. "I kh-can't deal with it... her parents hate me because they think I raped her... my parents don't know what to think of me because I like mustelids... it's- I don't..." Judy felt her heart ache and took two steps closer.  
  
    "Can I tell you something, Cory?" Judy asked.  
  
    "Wh-what...?" the distraught chipmunk sniveled.       
  
    "I once made a mistake, one big enough to put all of Zootopia in danger," Judy revealed, taking just one more step closer, before freezing when Cory wiped his eyes and took a longer look at her.  
  
    "You're Judy Hopps!" Cory noticed.  
  
    "Yup that's me," Judy said wryly, rolling her eyes, "lil' ol' mess-everything-up Judy. Did you know it took me three months after I made my big mistake to find the solution? And all during that time I was getting more and more depressed, thinking there was nothing I could do to fix anything."  
  
    "Hh-how did you fix it?" Cory looked incredulous.  
  
    "I talked to someone I trust very much," Judy said. "I told him everything that was bothering me, and I asked for his understanding."  
  
    "And it... worked?" Cory hesitated. He looked out over the water and felt his stomach drop. He looked up at Judy.  
  
    "It did..." Judy nodded, kneeling. She was quite close to Cory now. "Do you think you can do that?"  
  
    "I don't- I don't know..." Cory admitted.  
  
    Judy offered her paws. "How about you come over this way, huh?"  
  
    Cory grit his teeth intensely and after a few more moments of hesitation, he jumped.  
      
    Two minutes later, a small collection of police officers came up the bridge.  
  
    "We've got another unit down at the river's edge," Fangmeyer's worried voice called out, the tiger approaching Judy from the back. "Wh-where's the 10-56A?"  
  
    "Right here," Judy said, turning around. She had the chipmunk nestled close to her chest. Cory seemed scared and his breath was coming tremendously fast.  
  
    "Oh thank God," Fangmeyer breathed out. "I'll go get him a blanket and signal the medics. Wolford? You know you're better with kids than me."  
  
    "Sure thing," Wolford carefully walked over to Judy, sniffing at the small rodent. "Heya, kiddo..."  
  
    "This is Officer Wolford," Judy introduced, "he and other members of the ZPD are going to help you, okay?"   
  
    "Yh-yeah, okay," Cory nodded, his eyes unfocused. Fangmeyer returned and laid a small blanket around Cory as he was transferred over to Wolford's paws.  
  
    Chief Bogo walked over to Judy. "Thought I told you to take it easy, and here you are saving the day yet again. Why is it you seem to be able to find a crisis everywhere you look, anyway?"  
  
    "Just lucky, I guess," Judy shrugged. She swallowed slowly. "Chief, do you think you could get my statement really quick on this? I have somewhere I need to be."  
  
    "Of course," Bogo nodded.  
  


* * *

  
    The air was cool and calm, only a slight breeze blowing. Nick stood still in the middle of the roof of his apartment complex, gazing at all the city lights. They had so many colors and flavors, and the city noise was like an eerie ghost that kept talking in familiar words that had no meaning. Looking up, Nick found he couldn't see any stars. A hazard of living in the city, the colorful closeness of the city drowned out the little pinpoints of the beyond. Nick sighed heavily.  
  
    He heard the door of the entrance to the roof open.  
  
    "If you don't have anything pertinent to do up here, I'd suggest you leave," Nick said evenly, reaching to flash his badge offhandedly. "Official police business."  
  
    "Well, I do have some pertinent 'official police business' business up here," Judy said, slowly approaching Nick.  
  
    "Judy...?" Nick's voice was awed as he turned to look at the bunny. "How'd you know I was here?"  
  
    Judy shrugged both shoulders. "Lucky guess?"  
  
    Nick turned his head. "I thought I told you I wanted to be alone."  
  
    "I..." Judy hesitated, but stood right next to Nick at his side, shaking her head. "Sorry, but I'm not going to leave you alone."  
  
    "Until when, I'm all better?" Nick rolled his eyes. "You know, you have a real problem with listening to me. I wonder what disaster you'll cause by ignoring me  _this_ time? What could possibly go wrong? I dunno, something like a _train explosion_?"  
  
    Judy said nothing.  
  
    "So you think you're just gonna stand here and do something to make everything okay between us?" Nick let a frustrated huff out.  
  
    Judy looked up at him with determination. "I'm going to try."  
  
    Nick huffed again, more sarcastically. "Well then, _by all means_." He bowed and gestured with his hands extravagantly.  
  
    "Nick... I know you're hurting," Judy said softly. "But... in case something like this happens again, I just want us both to be on the same page."  
  
    "Yeah?" Nick's anger, as well the rest of his emotion, slowly drained from his voice. "...And what's written on that page?"  
  
    "I'm glad you asked!" Judy suddenly perked up. "I ac- I actually have it written down." Nick's eyebrow raised in skepticism. "Yeah I- I just sort of wrote it down so I wouldn't mess it up. You know my track record with speeches. Uh... this is kinda- don't make fun of me for this, okay?"  
  
    "No promises," Nick said dryly. Judy opened a document on her phone and cleared her throat.  
  
    "The bunny looked up at the fox's emerald eyes-" Judy started reading.  
  
    "'Emerald eyes', really?" Nick almost smiled.  
  
    "Excuse me! I'm  _talking_ here!" Judy stamped one foot indignantly. Nick's resolve buckled and he started to grin. Judy rolled her eyes back down to her phone. "Emerald eyes- okay. She thought about everything the two had been through together. Everything little quip that had been said, everything they had done. Everything they had shared together. All of those moments filled between them had filled the air with colorful balloons. Each balloon contained one of those actions, but the bunny stubbornly let them fly where they may, bouncing here and there against each other, not seeing them for what they were inside."  
  
    Nick tilted his head a little bit. Judy bit her lip and continued.  
  
    "The bunny took those balloons for granted. Each one so colorful and bright, but the promise of something more within them." Judy swallowed. "Eventually, something happened to the fox that made the bunny want to look back. Behind her she saw all those balloons they had created together... and she suddenly wanted to know what was inside of them. Taking her claws, she popped them one by one... and within them were all the treasures from their time together. She allowed them to soak into her instead of bouncing off. She wasn't afraid of the loud pops they would make. She knew she wanted to take those memories and take their full value into her heart, and she wasn't willing to let them go unused anymore. ...She hoped the fox felt the same way." Judy looked up at Nick plaintively.  
  
    Nick wrinkled his muzzle.  
  
    "Wh-what do you think?" Judy tried a tiny smile.  
  
    "I think that if you spread that metaphor any thinner you could put it on toast," Nick quipped, half-smiling.  
  
    "Nick...!" Judy's shoulders dropped. "I worked hard on that!"  
  
    "If you want me to be serious..." Nick sighed. "I... popped all of my own 'balloons' a long time ago."  
  
    "I... figured you might have," Judy smiled softly.  
  
    "Balloon carcasses everywhere," Nick sucked at his teeth, shaking his head in faux mournfulness, "latex genocide."  
  
    "Nick...!" Judy chuckled. "So uh... wh-what now?"  
  
    Nick sniffed, then he brought a few fingers up to his mouth and licked them, then dramatically made a motion in the air. Judy looked at him, puzzled.   
  
    "I turn the page," Nick said, holding an invisible book in his hands. "I want to see what's next."  
  
    Judy's eyes twinkled.  
  
    "Though the next page better not have 'amethyst orbs' on it or I'm chucking this book off the roof," Nick smirked.  
  
    "Nick!" Judy leaped straight at him excitedly.  
  
    "Uph!" Nick wasn't ready for the bunny's glomp, but reacted quickly, holding her closely in his arms.  
  
    "So, can I have my Nick back now?" Judy asked chidingly.  
  
    "You can have your stupid Nick back now," Nick groaned in conciliation, giving her a soft squeeze. Nick set her down and then sat down on the roof. Judy sat next to him, looking up at him. Nick looked up at the sky again and let a long, slow breath out. "...Are you sure about all of this, Judy?"  
  
    "What do you mean?" Judy blinked.  
  
    "I mean, you heard what I said a few days ago," Nick grumbled. "All of that..."  
  
    "Well..." Judy swallowed, her nose starting to twitch. She looked up at Nick again and gave a guilty smile. "Nick, I may be a weird bunny, but I  _am_ a bunny. If things were to progress between us to that point... let's- let's just say I'm happy that you think I'm boinkable."  
  
    "Buh-boinkable," Nick burst out. " _Boinkable_." Nick chuckled, and before long it turned into an extended, complete laugh, full of release and relief. Judy smiled brightly and couldn't help giggling along.  
  
    "Okay, we need to set some ground rules first," Judy held up a finger. "I am  _not_ covering myself in milk and sugar."  
  
    "Aww..." Nick pouted, then his grin turned devilish. "Ah well. You're sweet and smooth enough for me anyway."  
  
    "Nick!" Judy poked at his arm. "You're so ridiculous...ly good to me. Nice to hear that honeyed teasing from you again..." Judy looked up at him earnestly.  
  
    "If you think you like  _hearing_ what my tongue can do..." Nick wiggled his eyebrows.  
  
    Judy's pupils became pinpricks and her jaw dropped slowly. "Is that- is that a promise?"  
  
    Nick shrugged, then narrowed his eyes until they were practically shut and affected his voice: "Thing is, my child, we don't lie to the membahs of the family."  
  
    "Oh my gosh, _stop_ ," Judy rolled her eyes and started to rock backwards, as if she was rolling her entire body, but couldn't help but laugh. Nick pulled her up a little so she wouldn't fall over on her back, then leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Mmm. I... can I admit something to you?"  
  
    "Please, especially if it's having guilty fantasies about yours truly," Nick gave a friendly scowl. "Maybe that would even things out a little."  
  
    "It's... related to that," Judy smiled. "I once...  _once_ had the thought of... y'know, seeing if I could find some Randy... seeing if taking just a bit would make me fantasize about you or something."  
  
    "Mm..." Nick frowned. "I'm guessing you didn't?"  
  
    "Nah," Judy shook her head, "started fantasizing about you anyway."  
  
    "Whew, bunnies," Nick shook his head. "So utterly depraved."  
  
    Judy grinned. "I just hope real you can match up to my fantasy version of you." Judy narrowed her eyes. "He's quite good."  
  
    Nick slapped his paws together and rubbed them. "My dear, I will kick my fantasy self's tail."  
  
    Judy shook her head and smiled fondly up at Nick, and his smile slowly turned less lecherous and more fond as well. Judy thrust her hand upward and slapped it down firmly on Nick's squeezing his paw. She didn't know what the future had in store for her and her fox, but she was sure she'd be able to face it with him together, and without shame.  
  
    Nick, on the other hand, still felt a tiny bit of shame at where things were going. But he was slowly quashing it, and the eagerness and love in that bunny's eyes told him what the two had on some level always known about each other since their first day on the force together. And _that_ , he could take pride in.


	10. Epilogue: Pride's Shame

    "Yeah, tell me about it," Officer Swinton said with a shake of her head, walking a kind-faced brown bear through the prison. The pig admitted the bear to a particular room. "Anyway, here we are."

    Miranda Pride perked up in surprise as she saw the brown bear approach. "Mr. Brown! So good to see you again!"  
  
    Justin Brown arranged his things and took out a notepad to write in. "Hello, Miranda. Are you ready to begin our session today?"  
  
    "Am I ever," Miranda nodded with a smile. "As a social mammal, it's hard not to be able to speak with many different people."  
  
    "It's hard for me, too," Swinton rolled her eyes, "I think I've told her my whole life story by now."  
  
    "Are you being treated well, Miranda?" Justin asked, taking a seat near the cell.  
  
    "Oh, well enough, I suppose," Miranda's smile faltered and she tugged on her orange jumpsuit. "I wish these came in purple, though. That's more my color. So how are _you_ , anyway?"  
  
    "Doing well, I daresay I'm even doing _good_ ," Justin nodded with a chuckle. "I can't complain."  
  
    "Remember Pride, this is a court-ordered psychological evaluation," Swinton warned. "You're not here to make friends."  
  
    "Oh, a few questions won't hurt, my schedule can allow it," Justin smiled. "Now, last time, we talked a lot about you and your background. Today, I'd like to talk a bit more about 'him'."  
  
    "Oh, Randy," Miranda nodded, folding her paws in front of her. "Sure."  
  
    "Now, I must warn you that I will be required to pass my findings along to the judicial system, and they will find anything that doesn't mesh with what you claimed at the trial," Justin cautioned.  
  
    "I understand," Miranda said after a moment's hesitation.  
  
    "You were not directly involved in the drug's development, is that correct?" Justin asked, preparing his pen.  
  
    "No, I... I suppose I 'commissioned' it from Mr. Jake Hollow," Miranda shifted her eyes. "He's... locked up too, right?"  
  
    "He is," Justin affirmed.  
  
    Miranda paused again, then sighed. "Well, I told him I wanted a drug that could make mammals experience and express their true feelings for each other. Almost like a love potion."  
  
    "I assume it took some time to modify the drug from its prescription parent?" Justin asked.  
  
    "Yes; we needed to move our operations to Zootopia to secure more materials," Miranda admitted. "I remember the day Mr. Hollow finished the drug; it was wondrous! Randy... I imagined him as my own personal cupid that would help bring mammals closer to one another."  
  
    "I have to ask," Justin cleared his throat, then showed some newspaper articles that described some of the overdoses, deaths, and hospitalizations that occurred as a direct result of randernephrol. "What do you think of articles like these?"  
  
    "I... when I saw the first one I panicked and asked Mr. Hollow what had gone wrong," Miranda winced. "He told me it was a perfect drug... he told me that the bad things that happened were the result of mammals using it wrong. And I knew myself that the news would only ever report on the bad things that happened. There wasn't a single report on the couples that Randy had managed to bring together, was there?"  
  
    "I don't know of any," Justin admitted.  
  
    "That's right," Miranda frowned. "The news always wants to report on what's bad and tragic. Sensationalism. I... convinced myself to ignore the people that were misusing my Randy."  
  
    "So then, what of Mr. Hollow?" Justin adjusted himself in his chair. "How did you find his reactions and testimony at the trial? How did they make you feel?"  
  
    Miranda said nothing initially; her face became blank. She began to look uncomfortably around the room. Swinton folded her arms, regarding the lioness curiously. Miranda closed her eyes and let out a pitiable sigh.  
  
    "I... wanted to take the blame for Randy," Miranda said. "I wanted all of it. I wanted to throw suspicion away from Jake, so he could maybe go continue making Randy and be the hero I couldn't."  
  
    "Is that still how you feel about Jake?" Justin continued. "A hero?"  
  
    "...No," Miranda said flatly.  
  
    "Why is that?" Justin tilted his head a few degrees to the side. "You said you were willing to take the blame for him. Did his throwing accusation upon accusation at you somehow sour your opinion of him?"  
  
    "No," Miranda shook her head firmly. "It wasn't that... I had expected that. It was just... the allegations brought against him... the canids that came forward..."  
  
    Justin flipped through his notes. "Mm, it says here that there were six canids that Jake Hollow was confirmed to have used randernephrol on, at least that came forward."  
  
    "I couldn't believe that," Miranda smiled sadly. "I just couldn't... Jake was a bad guy... he'd... he wasn't interested in my ideals at all. He saw an opportunity to use the drug for himself, to further his own sexual conquests..."  
  
    "Did your opinion of Randy change after that?" Justin asked.  
  
    "Yes, a bit," Miranda admitted. "I saw him as the perfect little cupid, but I suppose he's easy to use as a little devil, as well..."  
  
    Swinton scowled a little at hearing this and shook her head subtly, but this didn't go unnoticed by Miranda.  
  
    "She thinks I'm naive, doesn't she?" Miranda frowned. "Everyone's been calling me that. Stupid, naive, crazy..." Miranda released a shaky sigh.  
  
    "I'm not here to judge you, Miranda," Justin tried a small smile, looking straight at her. "I'm just here to listen to what you have to say." Justin scratched his muzzle. "Now, is there anything you  _would_ like to say?"  
  
    "I really, truly just wanted to take away the shame mammals have when thinking about interspecies relationships," Miranda said quietly. She shook her head. "I didn't want it to hurt people. I didn't want anyone to die, or anyone to get raped. I wanted... love."  
  
    "For yourself?" Justin asked.  
  
    Miranda cringed, her eyes squinting. She balled her fists and turned her head away, staring at the wall. "...Maybe."  
  
    Justin made some notes in his pad.  
  
    "...Is that why I drugged Fabienne Growley?" Miranda took in a breath that caught twice. "Is that what you want to ask?"  
  
    "I didn't ask," Justin said calmly.  
  
    "...It was so hard to hear her testimony against me," Miranda looked crushed. "I... that was perhaps the worst I'd ever felt about anything. I just wanted some harmless intermingling of emotions with her; I thought it would be good for both of us... and she even- she even accepted. But her denouncements of me... they hurt."  
  
    "Do you understand why she said what she did?" Justin gave her a serious look.  
  
    "...Yes," Miranda sat down on her bed. "Yes I do. It's taken me awhile of thinking about it, but I do. I thought Randy only revealed what we truly desire, and in some ways, I suppose he does. But there's also regret and shame that can come after it. Just because Randy attracts you to someone doesn't mean that the pairing is meant to be."  
  
    "And that's what you had a hard time believing at first," Justin noted.  
  
    "I thought mammals cowered behind their shame," Miranda frowned intensely. "I thought someone had to MAKE them see what they wouldn't admit to themselves. I thought if we just removed shame,  _destroyed_ it from everyone's lives..." Miranda slashed her hands in front of her. "Then no one would have problems anymore. Everyone would be free to their feelings. With... with 'pride'."  
  
    "You feel it now, don't you?" Justin gave her a slightly pitying glance.  
  
    "I do... shame and regret," Miranda sighed shakily. "But I suppose it's too late for that, now isn't it? Even if I get out, I suppose I won't be able to do the work I love anymore; my name will forever be blackened by the media. I won't be able to do any philanthropic work anymore."  
  
    "Perhaps not, but there are always subtler ways to help people," Justin smiled softly. "As a psychologist, I've helped many mammals through their confusing feelings about others."  
  
    "Oh, you have? That's wonderful," Miranda smiled.  
  
    "There are lots of ways to be a helper, and perhaps you still will be one to someone in the future; it's too early to say," Justin began to gather his things. "I do believe I'm out of time, though."  
  
    "W-will you be coming back?" Miranda asked desperately, rushing over to the bars to hold them.  
  
    "I think so; I think I need to know more before I give my full report," Justin nodded without looking directly at her.  
  
    "Justin, do you-," Miranda swallowed. "Do you think I'm crazy?"  
  
    Justin slowly looked at Miranda. "In my honest opinion, you are misunderstood and misguided, and you were misled."  
  
    "Three misses and I'm out," Miranda shrugged one shoulder, smiling sadly.  
  
    "One of the greatest features of mammals is our ability to learn from our mistakes," Justin said. "And the first step to that is realizing you've made a mistake. I think you've taken that step."  
  
    Miranda sighed and backed away in something like relief. She sat on her bed contemplatively.  
  
    "I think you've bought me a few minutes of peace and quiet," Officer Swinton said, preparing to leave with Justin. "I guess better me than the rest of Zootopia."  
  
    "Oh, we'll see, Officer Swinton," Justin smiled gently. "I suppose we'll just have to see."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends Pride and Shame. I admit this was quite difficult for me to write, mostly because crime-based stories have an extra layer of forethought and obfuscation a writer needs to have in mind while writing.
> 
> In this story, I wanted to go with an undercurrent of the good guys (some of them) being jerks, like Commissioner Freemammal and Officer Fangmeyer. To contrast that, I wanted a villain who was personable and earnest in Miranda Pride, with her goons subverting expectations by not being violent either. I tried to write Pride almost like a naive Disney Princess who wanted peace and love for everyone and missed the most blatant things right in front of her.
> 
> As the story went on, I found it would be basically impossible for her to be like this, be behind everything, and _also_ not be sinister and subversive. So I left myself a backdoor all the way back in chapter three with the jackal, Hollow. 
> 
> Also, I tried to hide Judy's feelings about Nick for most of the story for drama's sake, going with my usual headcanons that Judy is often blindsided by her own feelings and takes awhile to own up to them. 
> 
> There are a few rather subtle (I think, since no one brought them out) references to other Disney works in situations or phrases the characters say. Just thought I'd mention that.
> 
> I don't know if this is one of my stronger works, but I did feel pretty good about writing it (up til a point, then I started to doubt myself extremely again). 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading it.


End file.
